


Binary Emotions

by The_Plauge_Dragon



Category: The Matrix (Movies), 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - No Quirks (My Hero Academia), Alternate Universe - The Matrix Fusion, Angst, BAMF Midoriya Izuku, Bakugou Katsuki Swears A Lot, Crack, Crack Relationships, Crack and Angst, Crossover, F/M, Female Bakugou Katsuki, Fluff, Good Agent Smith, I Don't Even Know, Irony, Love Triangles, MILFs, Midoriya Izuku is a Good Friend, Midoriya Izuku is a Nerd, Monoma Neito Being an Asshole, Multi, My Hero characters as Matrix Characters, Mythology Gags, Quirkless Midoriya Izuku, Self-Hatred, Well one, What Have I Done, Why Did I Write This?, didn't know that was a tag
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-10
Updated: 2021-01-05
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:41:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 20,805
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25817455
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Plauge_Dragon/pseuds/The_Plauge_Dragon
Summary: I replaced a lot of Matrix Characters with MHA characters.  Shit's about to go nuts real fast.Le discord:  https://discord.gg/MEGP4gS
Relationships: Bakugou Katsuki/Midoriya Izuku, Bakugou Katsuki/Tsunotori Pony, Midoriya Izuku/Tsunotori Pony
Comments: 24
Kudos: 53





	1. Chapter 1

Three agents stood at the ruins of a phone booth. One of them had failed to stop one of the Red-pilled. “She got out,” he said.

Another one walked up. “It doesn't matter. The informant is real.”

“Yes… and we have the name of their next target. The name is… Neo.”

“Are you sure?” the lead agent asked.

“Indeed. We are ready to begin a search.”

“That won’t be necessary… we already know where he is.”

*****

Izuku Midoriya, PhD in computer Programming, was sleeping in his shared apartment. His roommate/childhood friend/girlfriend, one Katsumi Bakugou, had left. He wasn’t sleeping at his bed, actually. He was at his computer. He had been running a search on his own time for wanted criminals… under his alias of Neo, of course. Izuku had a job as an IT, but what he did in his spare time was hacking. He didn’t hack to steal- his job paid well enough- he did it to help people. Already he had brought down two of his bosses who had been dealing in child trafficking. They were total skanks anyway. What woke him up was his computer beeping. He was attuned to that sound. He bolted upright, blinking sleep from his eyes.

‘Wake up, Neo… the Matrix has you…’

“The what now?” he asked himself. “Who’s typing this? Kacchan? Is this one of your pranks?” he asked, talking over his shoulder. And then, another message popped up on the screen.

‘Follow the white rabbit’.

“Is this some Alice in Wonderland thing?” he asked himself.

‘Knock, knock,’

Just then, the door knocked twice. Izuku nearly jumped out of his seat.

“Zuzu?! You awake!?” It was Katsumi.

Izuku groaned, and got up. His computer had gone dark. He opened the door, only to find her with a group of other people. “Uhhh… what’s this about?” he asked.

“Your promotion, silly!” she chuckled, hugging him. Her generous bust pressed against him. It was a nice feeling.

“Oh, right… you said you had a party planned… I don’t know-” then he saw it. One of the people with her- one of his co-workers, actually- had a tattoo of a white rabbit. That had certainly NOT been there the previous day. “Alright, I’m in,” he said.

*****

Izuku mostly kept to himself during the party. He never socialized well. He would dance with Kacchan, sure, but he wasn’t liking the flirty looks others were giving him. It made him nervous. It also mad Kacchan unhappy, so he just kept to the side. It had taken him five years to realize she had a crush on him, and he didn’t want to throw that away.

“Hello, Neo.” Izuku spun around, green hair flying. Standing next to him was a very pretty woman with long blonde hair.

“How do you know that name?!” he hissed.

“I know a lot about you,” the woman replied.

“Who the hell are you!? I have a girlfriend!” Izuku sputtered.

“My name is Pony.”

Izuku’s eyes widened. “ _The_ Pony?! The woman who cracked the Senate database and revealed all those racist emails!?” he exclaimed. That had certainly killed the myth of the Southern Strategy real quickly. “You were on my computer! How did you do that?!”

“I can’t tell you that, Neo. All I can tell you is that you’re in danger, and they’re watching you… and they have been for a long, long, time.” She then got closer. “I know why you’re here… why you hardly sleep…why you spend all that time sitting at your computer… you’re looking for him, aren’t you? I did the same things, many years ago… and when he found me, he told me that I wasn’t looking for him… but for an answer. An answer to the question that drives both of us… the one that brought you here…”

“What is the Matrix?” Izuku breathed out.

“The answer is out there, Neo. It’s looking for you, and it will find you if you allow it to…”

“HEY! Get away from my boyfriend!” Katsumi roared, storming over. Most girlfriends would assume Izuku was cheating on them. Not Katsumi. “Either you back the fuck off or I’ll shove your long legs into your own vagina!”

*****

The next morning, Izuku had to rush to work. His new office in Metacortex was nice, with pictures of him and Katsumi, from childhood to adulthood. His boss (someone he had run a VERY thorough background check on- turns out he was actually a very good guy) came in to congratulate him on his new promotion, and that he looked forward to working with him. And then, a delivery guy came in.

“Izuku Midoriya?” he asked.

“That’s me,” Izuku said.

“...I was expecting someone older, but here,” the delivery guy said. Izuku signed the stuff, and the man handed him a package. “Have a nice day, sir,” he said.

“You too!” Izuku replied, smiling. He then opened the package. “I didn’t order anything… is this a gift?” he asked himself. What came out was a phone. As soon as it touched his hands, it rang. “H-hello?” he stammered.

“Hello, Neo. do you know who this is?” a tired voice asked.

Izuku nearly dropped the phone in shock. “M-Morpheus!?” He whispered.

“Yes. I’ve been looking for you, Neo.”

“Have you been sleeping well?” Izuku inquired, his natural worry about others getting the better of his impulse control- as was the norm.

“Not really, but thanks for asking. Now, I don’t know if you’re ready to see what I want to show you, but unfortunately, you and I have run out of time. They’re moving in, Neo. They’ve stopped watching. I don’t know what they’ll do to you if they catch you.”

“Who’s coming for me?” Izuku asked.

“Open your door, and you’ll see,” Morpheus told him.

“What? Now!?”

“Yes… please stand up from your comfy chair, and look out your office window- the one facing the corridor.” Morpheus instructed him. “Do it slowly. Do not jerk up.”

Izuku slowly looked up, and almost fainted. There were police officers- ones he knew, at that- and… those people. He had seen them out of the corner of his vision for over ten years now. One of his co-workers pointed to him, and he turned to his wall. “Oh God oh God! That’s bad!” he stammered.

“Indeed. It is very bad,” Morpheus dryly commented. They were approaching fast.

“W-what the heck do they want from me!? I- I stay legal when I can! I- I- The police love my help!” Izuku stammered. “Are they assassins?! That can’t be right since I froze the assets of my targets so they couldn’t afford assassins and I coded my blackmail to release if I died so killing me wouldn’t solve anything so who are they working for!?” he mumbled, his panic kicking up a mumble storm.

“Breathe, Neo. And I don’t know why they’re moving in, or why they want to speak to you. Now, unless you want to find out, I’d suggest you leave the building. Thankfully, your schedule allows it,” he added. “Now, I can guide you out, but you must do exactly as I say. The office two doors down is empty. GO!” Izuku sprinted into the office, and saw the sunglasses guys walk towards his office. “Stay here for a moment,” Morpheus instructed. Izuku complied.

“W-what now?” he gasped, sweating.

“Go across the cubicle area, to the office opposite of your own,” Morpheus told him. Remember to stay as low as you can. Go.” Izuku did as he was told, crouching. Some of his coworkers gave him weird looks, but shrugged. Izuku dashed into the office, and gently closed the door.

“Good. Now, outside, there’s a scaffold.”

“H-how do you know this!? There aren’t that many cameras!” Izuku whisper-shouted.

“If you’d like to get caught, I can explain it to you. Or, we can move forward. Your choice,” Morpheus sarcastically replied.

“Alright, I’ll ask later… what now?”

“See that window? The one that looks to the scaffolding? Open it.” Izuku complied, slightly confused. “Now, climb onto the scaffolding, and use that to get to the roof,” Morpheus instructed.

“No way! I’m not doing that! I could die!” Izuku whimpered.

“Listen, there are only two ways out of this building. One is via that scaffolding. The other is in their custody. I leave that choice to you.” With that, Morpheus hung up.

“...What? That’s it!?” Izuku asked the phone. “Why me!? I didn’t do anything wrong!” he whimpered. He looked out the window, looking down the drop that was at least two hundred feet. “Nope. I’m going to take my chances,” he decided. He then sat down, and waited for them. He didn’t have to wait long.

“Mister Midoriya. How delightful to see you,” one of the suited men said. Then, he was escorted out of the building into a car. Unbeknownst to him, Pony was nearby.

“Oh shit!”

***** 

Izuku found himself in an interrogation room. He was just waiting. What was even going on?! He hadn’t done anything wrong- well, not for the wrong reasons, anyways. ‘Was this a recruitment thing?’ he asked himself. Finally, the lead agent arrived. “Do you want some chapstick?” he asked. The man didn’t say anything, slowly opening a file. The man then flipped through some pages.

“As you can see, we’ve had our eye on you for quite some time, Mister Midoriya.”

“Since I was fifteen. I saw you out of the corners of my eyes, I know,” Izuku replied.

“...Interesting… you noticed. No one has ever noticed before…” the chapped agent replied. “Now, it seems, according to your file, that you’ve been living two lives. In one life, you are Izuku Midoriya: PhD in Computer Sciences across the board, healthy job, good relationship with one Katsumi Bakugou, your roommate, childhood friend, and girlfriend. You pay your taxes, vote, and help around your apartment, including helping your elderly landlady carry out her garbage. The other one, however, is far more… interesting. There, you live in the digital world as the hacktivist ‘Neo.’ You have done several acts of vigilantism, including shutting down two human trafficking rings, have destroyed three cartels, and, most recently, you tore down the Great Firewall of China. Impressive.”

“Am I in any trouble here?” Izuku asked.

“You have sought out unsavory characters recently, tilting your acts of goodwill towards that of a criminal. I’m going to be as forthcoming as I can possibly be, Mister Midoriya. You’re here because we need your help,” the man explained, removing his sunglasses. “We are aware of your contact with a certain individual, who calls himself ‘Morpheus.’ Whatever you think you know about this man is irrelevant. He is considered to be the most dangerous man alive. My agency has been tasked with bringing him to justice.” The chapped agent leaned in. “My colleagues believe that I am playing a very dangerous game here, Mister Midoriya. However, your file shows that you are willing to do the right thing, no matter the personal cost to yourself.”

“So… can I have my phone call first? I want to call my girlfriend,” Izuku explained. Internally, he was worried. Was Morpheus a terrorist? If so, for what? From what he had been able to see, the man hadn’t committed any real crimes. In fact, if taken before a court of law, it was likely that he’d be given multiple counts of involuntary manslaughter, considering the bad orders given to officers.

“Oh, Mister Midoriya… you disappoint me. I had wished you’d help,” the man said.

“You can’t scare me with this gestapo crap, sir. We’re not in National Socialist Germany, I want my phone call.” Katsumi knew a lot of law, considering she was going for a degree in Law. She wanted to be a Civil Rights attorney.

“Tell me, mister Midoriya.. What good is a phone call… if you’re unable to speak?”

Izuku looked around, confused. Then, he tried to speak, but nothing came out. His eyes went from confused to frightened when his mouth began to MELT. “Muph?!” he exclaimed. Then his skin covered his mouth. He flung back his chair, and slammed himself in the corner, making muffled panicked noises. Then, the other two agents grabbed him, and ripped his shirt off, showing that he had some muscles. By now, Izuku was sobbing. “Hmmhmmm!” he cried out. He had meant to call for Katsumi, since she was a pillar of stability.

“I’m sorry, Mister Midoriya, but this ‘Kacchan’ isn’t going to save you!” the chapped agent sneered. The other two agents held him to the table. “And you’re going to help us.. Wether you want to, or not!” the agent sneered, holding up some small metallic device. The device bulged and cracked, until it was revealed to be a cocoon for an insect-like robot. This robot’s tendrils whipped around in the air.

“HHHHHHMMMM!” Izuku screamed, eyes gushing. Then the agent dropped the bug onto his stomach, where the tendrils ripped dinot his navel. Izuku tried to scream in pain, only getting muffled sounds. The thing tore into him… but there was no blood. It burrowed into his belly button like a maggot burrowing into dead flesh. Then… he vanished.

One of the agents placed a hand to his ear. “Shigaraki…” he said, nervously.

“What?!” the now-named agent snapped. “I have successfully bugged the One! Now he’ll lead us straight to Morpheus!”

“...You didn’t discuss this with Her…” the agent told him.

“You did what?” the other unnamed agent gasped.

“I… thought that it wouldn’t be necessary… we don’t have to convene with Her when going after potential redpills…”

“YOU BUGGED MY BOYFRIEND!?” an absolutely furious Katsumi roared, ripping the door off the hinges. Now, in the Matrix, Katsumi appeared to be a normal human. In fact, she was anything but. She was the central intelligence for all the machines. And now, she was looking at Shigiriaki with absolute murder in her eyes. “You…” she snarled. The Matrix buckled slightly, the floor warping with her rage.

The agents all knelt as one. “Why did NO ONE decide to inform me that you were planning a mission against Zuzu until he appeared in his bed?” she whispered, her voice steely calm. She then summoned an apple and bit into it. The symbolism of her doing that was not lost on the Agents. It also helped that she was burning the data of the Suicide bot into their CPUs.

“Oh great MOM…” One of the agents said, before Katsumi turned to him with fire in her eyes.

“My NAME is Katsumi. Bakugou. I am not the Mother of Machines here. Speak. Now. If not… I’ll harvest your data for my answer.”

The two other agents began to whimper. Shigiraki was trembling in fear. “I- I thought t-that he c-c-c-could be.. The One…” he stammered.

“I. Don’t. Give. A. FUCK!” she growled, picking him up. You better back the fuck off of him or I’ll Delete you,” she growled. “This goes for all of you. Have I made myself ABSOLUTELY clear!?”

“C-crystal…” the three whimpered, before fleeing. Katsumi let them run, before flopping to the ground, crying. It had physically hurt to bring that memory to the surface… part of her five years of darkness…


	2. Awakenings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Quick new chapter so I can say that yes, I'm not making this a mere oneshot.
> 
> Le discord: https://discord.gg/MEGP4gS

Izuku bolted upright in his bed. “AAARGGGHH!” he screamed, putting his hand to his mouth. He then tore off his shirt, and felt his stomach. Nothing. He flopped to his bed, panting. “Was… was that all a dream?” he asked himself. There was a note from Katsumi on the desk. “Be back soon,” he read. Evidently she was studying or something. He had gotten his PhD in record time, and she still had another semester before she got her law degree. And then, the phone rang. It was his old phone- almost impossible to tap. Izuku pulled the phone off the hook, and shakily held it to his ear. “Kacchan? Do you need me to pick you up?” he asked.

“This line is tapped, so I must be brief.” It was Morpheus. “They got to you first, but then underestimate how important you are.”

“H-how did you…”

“If they knew what I know… you’d almost certainly be dead… and so would those close to you.”

Izuku’s blood ran cold. Those agents… doing that to Kacchan… but that was a nightmare, right? He probably passed out in that office from fear! “W-what are you talking about?” he asked. “W-what’s h-h-happening to me!?” he choked out.

“You are The One, Neo. You may have spent the past few years looking for me.. But I’ve dedicated my entire life to finding you. Now… Do you still want to meet? Unlike them, I will not force you into doing anything you don’t want to do. Would you still like to meet?”

The choice was immediate. “Yes.”

“Then go to the Adams Street Bridge,” Morpheus instructed.

*****

Izuku walked to the bridge, leaving Katsumi a note. It was really raining hard for some reason. He waited for about twelve seconds, before a car pulled up. Pony was in the back. There were two other people in it as well. “Get in,” Pony ordered. Izuku did so. As soon as he was in, they took off. Then, the person riding shotgun turned around and pointed a pistol at him.

“W-what?! W-why!?” he whispered.

“It’s necessary, Neo. It’s for our protection from you,” she explained.

“I’m sorry, what?” Izuku asked.

“Take off your shirt,” the person holding the gun ordered.

“W-what!?” Izuku stammered in fear, covering his chest.

“Stop the car,” the person told the driver. The driver did so. “Now then, we don’t have time for 20 questions. Right now, it’s our way, or the highway. You got that?”

Izuku looked out the window. “Alright. We’ll do things your way,” he said, trying to remain brave.

“Good,” Pony said, turning to the driver. “Shoto? Lights.” The now-named Shoto flipped a switch. Pony then grabbed some weird thing from below. “Lie back, and lift up your shirt,” she ordered. Izuku did so, intimidated.

“W-what is that?” he stammered.

“We’re pretty sure the agents bugged you,” Pony replied. She set the device on his bare stomach, and it clamped down. Izuku flinched at the cold metal. “Try to relax, please,” Pony told him.

“It’s kind of hard with this on me,” Izuku replied.

Pony ignored him. “Come on… come on… there!” she said. She saw the bug. It was larger than most, and she could definitely tell it was also designed for killing if the target was uncooperative.

*****

Katsumi roared in rage. “YOU PUT AN EXTERMINATION BUG IN HIM!?” she screamed, throwing Shigaraki around.

“B-but-”

“DOES. IT. LOOK. LIKE. I. GIVE. A. FLYING. FUCK. IF. HE. IS. THE. ONE!?” she screeched, kicking him in the groin.

One of the other agents was talking to another. “Do you think that he’ll live?”

A girlish scream rang out. “Probably. He’s too good at what he does,” the other replied.

*****

“You’re going to lose it!” the shotgun passenger warned Pony.

“Like hell I am! CLEAR!” she shouted, sending a jolt of blue lightning onto Izuku's chest.

“GAAAH! ARGH! IT HURTS!” Izuku screamed. He saw something wriggling under his skin! Hell, he FELT it! And then, there was a suction, and he saw it- the thing from his nightmare- no… “JESUS CHRIST that was real!?” he screamed.

“Consider yourself honored. It’s an extermination variety. It could’ve easily killed you,” the shotgun passenger dryly said. Pony just tossed it out into the street.

*****

Katsumi paused her beating of Shigiraki’s face. “...It’s dead,” she said, relief on her face.

“What?” Shigaraki gasped.

“The bug… it’s stopped transmitting! That’s- oh no…” she stopped smiling, and her eyes became filled with horror. “They’re going to unplug him! They’re going to take him from me!” she cried out.

“Ma’am… should I-”

“Stay. There,” Katsumi ordered. Her form morphed into a female version of an agent. “I’m going to handle this myself.”

When the two other agents saw a female agent walk out of the doors, they turned to Shigiraki. “Was that…” one said.

“Yes. MOM has decided to become invested,” Shigiraki groaned.

*****

After getting rid of the bug, they had taken several turns, as if trying to throw someone off. Izuku gasped as the car pulled up to an abandoned building. The others in the car led him into the building and up the stairs. Finally, Pony led him to a set of doors. “This is it. Now, before you enter, let me give you one final piece of advice: be honest. He knows far more than you can possibly imagine,” she told him. She opened the door, and a tired looking man stared at Izuku from across the room. He wore no sunglasses, and his eyes were incredibly bloodshot.

“At last… we meet. Welcome, Neo. I assume that you have figured out that I am indeed Morpheus,” the now-revealed Morpheus declared.

“I’d suggest sleeping for fourteen hours,” Izuku deadpanned, before extending his hand. “It’s an honor to meet you, sir,” he said.

“No… the honor is all mine,” Morpheus said. This confused Izuku. “Now, please sit,” Morpheus instructed. Izuku complied. Morpheus then closed the doors. “Now, I imagine that you feel like Alice right now, correct? You’re tumbling down the rabbit hole.”

Izuku got the reference. “Y-yeah… what’s going on? And how did you know?”

“It’s simple. Your eyes show what you are thinking. Right now, you have the eyes of a man who is only accepting what he sees because he is expecting to wake up at any moment. What is ironic is that this isn’t far from the truth. Do you believe in fate, Neo?” Aizawa asked.

“No… not really. As Kacchan says, from one of her favorite movies; There is no fate but for what we make of ourselves,” Izuku replied truthfully. “Also, I’d like to think that I have at least some control over my life… that my choices are mine alone, and whatever consequences that come from them are because of my actions.”

“Well said. I can understand what you feel. You have the making of a philosopher… but that is not the career choice you made. But enough pleasantries. Let me tell you why you’re here. You’re here because you know something. What you know, you can’t explain, nor put it into words. Nor can you tell anyone, for fear of them believing you insane. However, you feel it. You have felt it your entire life, haven’t you? You feel like there’s something wrong with the world. Something just doesn't fit. You don’t know what this break in the pattern of reality is, but it’s there. It’s like a splinter you cannot reach, and it slowly drives you mad. This feeling… this splinter in your mind… that has brought you here to me. Do you know what I’m talking about?”

Izuku was pretty sure he did. “It’s… the Matrix, isn’t it? What is it?”

“...Do you want to know, exactly, what the Matrix is?”

“Yes,” Izuku replied.

“Are you sure?” Morpheus inquired.

“Positive,” was Izuku’s immediate response. “After all that’s happened to me… I want to know.”

“I see. The Matrix is everywhere. It is all around us. Even now, in this very building, and this very room. You see it when you look out your window, turn on your TV, or browse through the internet. When you go to work, when you go home, when you’re at the movie theater with Katsumi Bakugou. You feel it when you’re working, at church, paying your taxes, or holding your girlfriend’s hand. It is, very simply, the world that has bene pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth.”

Izuku leaned in. “...What truth?”

“Morpheus leaned in as well. “That you are a slave, Neo.”

“Is this some sort of communist thing?” Izuku asked.

“No. This has nothing to do with that. Or capitalism. Or National socialism. Or any other ideology. What I mean is that you were born into bondage. You have been born into a prison that you cannot smell, taste, hear, see, or touch. It is a prison for your mind.” Morpheus leaned into his seat, sighing. “Unfortunately, no one can be told exactly what the Matrix actually is. You have to see it for yourself.” Morpheus opened a small box, emptied the contents into his hands, and leaned forward again.

“This is your last chance- your very last chance to back away. After this, no matter your decision, there is no going back. You can take the blue pill,” Morpheus said, holding open his left hand. “And your story ends. You’ll wake up in your home, and you can believe whatever you want to believe. Or… you can take the red pill,” he said, opening his right hand. “If you take this, you’ll stay in wonderland, and I can show you how deep the rabithole really goes,” he told him.

Izuku reached for the red pill. He had to know. What was this prison? Was it merely affecting him, or was it affecting everyone? If it did, he had an obligation to free everyone. “Remember,” Morpheus said, causing Izuku to pause, “All I’m offering you is the truth. Nothing more, and nothing less.” Izuku continued for the pill, and popped it into his mouth. It tasted like cherry. He washed it down with water.

“Out of curiosity, what does the blue pill taste like?” he asked.

“From what I have been told, it tastes like blueberries,” Morpheus replied.

*****

Katsumi paused her sprint. She felt it. A tracking device. She focused outward, and found herself staring at the Fields of humans. There, in the pod she had protected over the most, was a tracking device. Izuku had taken the red pill. She went back into her Matrix body, and slumped to the ground. “NO! You can’t have him!” she snarled. She hadn’t ever tried to hold on to a redpilled person, but damn it, the humans weren’t taking away the first person she’d ever truly loved! She sprinted after him, truly desperate.

*****

“Follow me,” Morpheus instructed Izuku, getting up. Izuku followed suit. Morpheus opened another set of doors. “Shoto?! Are we online?!” he said in an urgent tone.

“Almost,” Shoto said in a deadpan tone.

“Time is always against us!” Morpheus declared.

“Sir… we have incoming… ETA three minutes,” someone said. “It’s a woman… moving at agent speeds…”

Morpheus paled. “It’s Her… Neo, you need to sit down.”

Izuku did so. “W-who’s this woman?” he stammered.

“Someone who will kill all of us, especially you, unless we act fast,” Morpheus told him. Izuku sat down, and Pony put pads on him. Everyone seemed to be messing with something. Honestly, he was a little nervous.

“Y-you did all this?” he stammered at Pony.

“Yep. And now it’s your turn,” she told him.

“The pill you took is part of a trace program. It serves as a tracking device for us, and is designed to disrupt your input-output carrier signal so we can find you,” Morpheus explained.

“W-what? W-what does that mean?” he asked.

One of the people, a man with blonde hair and a superior look in his eyes, turned to him. “It means buckle your seatbelt, Dorthy. Why? Because Kansas is going bye-bye.”

“Two minutes, sir,” someone reported. Morpheus rubbed a hand through his hair.

“What do we have to do?” Izuku asked, before something caught his eye. It was a broken mirror. And then, before his eyes, the glass became liquid, flowing together, and fixing itself. “W-what did you…” Izuku asked, turning to Morpheus. He then began to reach for the mirror. When his fingers connected, it bubbled, and some of it stayed on his fingers. It was like it was mercury.

“Have you ever had a dream, Neo, that you were so sure it was real? What if you were unable to wake from that dream?” Izuku managed to pull his fingers from the mirror. The liquid metal was still stuck to him. “How would you know the difference between the dream world… and the real world?”

Izuku stared at his hand in shock as the metal began to cover it. “T-this c-c-can’t be real…” he stammered, and then the metal kept flowing, breaking the laws of mass. It crawled up his arm.

*****

Katsumi, hands grasping Izuku’s code, could feel him being pulled from her. She stopped, and dug in her heels. “You won’t take him!” she growled.

*****

“Sir, it’s going into replications. Also, the woman has stopped for some reason,” Pony said.

“Shoto?”

“It’s… it’s like the Matrix itself is fighting me over him… I have nothing!” she bichromatic man growled.

“It’s c-c-cold…” Izuku gasped.

Morpheus pulled out a phone. “Kirishima, we’re going to need a signal soon,” he said.

A beeping sound rang out. “I got a fibrillation!” Pony shouted.

“Apoc. Location.”

“I’m trying, but I can’t! The Matrix is fighting me!”

“If you don’t find his location fast, he’ll die!” Morpheus told him.

*****

Katsumi felt the warning coming from Izuku’s pod. Her eyes began to well up with tears. “I- I’m killing him…” she sobbed. She was hurting him! Her clinginess was killing him!” She let go. “I-I’m s-s-sorry, Zuzu…” she sobbed, agent form sliding off of her as she bawled. She pushed the human’s tracking, hoping they’d reach him in time.

*****

“WOAH! I got a boost!” And I’m almost there!” Shoto exclaimed.

“He’s going into arrest!” Pony warned.

“Lock! I have him!” Shoto shouted.

“Now, Kirishima!” Morpheus shouted.

The metal got into Izuku’s mouth. “AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!” he screamed, darkness overcoming him. And then, he blinked. He was in some sort of liquid. There were dozens of tubes plugged into him. He pushed upwards, and felt some sort of membrane split. He peeled it off, and yanked at the thing that was in his mouth. He gagged as he managed to pull it out. He almost sank into the goo, but he managed to keep himself upright. He took a deep breath, and looked at himself more clearly. He heard the sparks of machinery all around him. “W-what?” he croaked. He reached at the back of his head, and to his horror, something was sticking out! And then, he looked to his left. He saw them. People in pods. They weren’t moving. They all had those wires connected to them. Then, he looked down and around. Pods. Endless pods, as far as the eye could see. Arcs of lightning bounced off of them. And then, some… thing… lowered itself to him.

*****

Katsumi choked a sob as she looked through one of her custodian machines. Izuku was looking at her with unchecked horror, his eyes seeing her work in all its cruelty. Her contraptions opened up, and he flinched. This made her cry harder. She was exposed before him as the monster she truly was. His vitals were spiking. With slowness, she gently closed a robotic claw over his throat, making sure he could breathe. ‘R-release…’ she commanded, wishing she had hands to cover her crying face.

“P-please! Gah…” Izuku begged. Katusmi almost let go of him right then and there. To her, it felt like she was barely holding onto him, feeling him slip through her grasp once and for all. With a whirr, the uploader disconnected from him. She wished she could cover her audio ports as he screamed. And then, the cords that fed him disconnected, one by one. He cried out as each one snapped. Without them supporting him, he sank into the nutrient vat that she had designed for every human. The port, sensing that the human was disconnected, opened. Izuku tried to hold on, but his muscles had atrophied. He clawed at the container, but was sucked down the drain. She wished she couldn’t hear his screams as he fell down, down, down, into the disposal. She immediately ordered a draining of the sewer down to four feet, but knew it wouldn't drain fast enough.

*****

Izuku slid down the slide of death, away from the metallic monster that had nearly killed him. He wished he was having a nightmare, that he’d be able to wake up in Katsumi’s arms, and cry over her shoulder, where she promised she’d protect him from the things from his nightmares. And then, he fell into something. He tried to swim up, but he kept sinking. He was too weak. A bright light and a whirring made themselves noticed by him. As he struggled above the surface, he felt his vision fading in and out. And then, as he slipped below, unable to keep himself up any more, he saw a claw reaching for him, before he slipped beneath the waves. The claw grabbed him, and hauled him up. Then, he saw familiar faces. Pony and Morpheus were looking at him. Finally, as he let himself fall into blissful unconsciousness, he heard Morpheus speaking one last time.

“Welcome… to the real world.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I have what is known as 'no chill'... or I'm just super motivated to write this.
> 
> Le discord: https://discord.gg/MEGP4gS

Izuku was engulfed in blackness for an unknown amount of time. The first thing that caught his attention afterwards was Morpheus speaking. “We’ve done it, Pony. We’ve found him.”

Izuku forced his eyes open, and saw Pony. “I hope you’re right,” she said.

“We don’t have to hope,” Morpheus whispered. “I know it!” Pony looked down, and saw Izuku. Izuku decided to ask the first thing on his mind.

“A-am I dead?” he wheezed out.

“Far from it,” Morpheus told him. Izuku passed out again.

The next time he woke up, he found himself with hundreds of needles in him. “W-what are you doing?” he whispered.

“Your muscles have atrophied. We’re rebuilding them,” Morpheus explained.

“W-why do my eyes hurt?” was his second question.

“Because you’ve never used them before,” Was the response. Izuku had a feeling that he had given this speech quite a few times. “Rest, Neo. The answers are coming. I promise.”

And then, he woke up for the final time. He was on a metal bunk, in plain clothes, with an IV bag. He had some peach fuzz on his head. With a grimace, he pulled the IV out of his arm. Then, he slowly began to reach towards the back of his head. Just as his fingers brushed metal, the door by him opened, startling him. It was Morpheus… though he wasn’t walking in. He was inchworming in while still in a sleeping bag. When he saw that Izuku was awake, Morpheus hopped up, and removed himself from the bag.

“Morpheus? What’s happening to me? What is this place?” Izuku asked.

“What is more important than the ‘what’ question is the ‘when’ question. It is not, in fact, the year 1999. In fact, it is, rather, far closer to 2299. It’s the year 2320, to be exact,” Morpheus explained. “There is nothing more that I can say that will explain it more clearly, so it would be more rational just to show you. If you can stand, please follow me, so you can see it for yourself.” Izuku stood up, and followed. “You are aboard my ship, the Nebuchadnezzar. It’s a hovercraft, not a traditional ship.” He led Izuku to an open area. “This is the main deck.” Morpheus then pointed to something else. “That’s our core. It’s where we broadcast our pirate signal and hack into the Matrix. You already know most of my crew,” he added. He then had several of the crew line up. “This is Shoto, Kaminari, and Neito. The two you don’t know are Kirishima, and his big brother Tetsu. The little one behind you is Jiro.” Izuku turned, and sure enough, there was another person behind him.

Morpheus then put his hands on Izuku. “You wanted to know what the Matrix is, Neo?” Izuku nodded. “Pony?”

Pony guided Izuku to a beaten to hell reclining chair. When he got in, she locked his feet in.

“Try to relax,” Morpheus told him. Izuku nodded. “Now… this will feel a little weird,” Morpheus told him.

“What will GAAAAAH!” Izuku screamed as something was put into that metal part in his head. And then… he opened his eyes. He was in a completely white area, wearing his normal clothes.

“This, Neo, is the Construct,” Morpheus explained, having suddenly appeared. “This is our loading program. We can load anything from clothing, weapons, even entire false cities. And before you ask how, remember that Moore’s Law has had more than two centuries to grow. By now, there are more computations going on every second then there are cells in your body,” Morpheus explained.

“S-so… we’re inside a computer program? How is that possible that would mean that the computer would have to run programs down to the cellular level for full one-to-one interaction since I can feel my clothes and I can tell that my clothes and hair are different and those seats weren’t there a second ago so they could have been dropped in-”

“You mumble a lot, don’t you?” Morpheus interrupted. “You see, your appearance is what we call your ‘residual self-image’. It is the mental projection of your physical self. And yes, with proper training, it can be changed,” Morpheus added.

“So none of this is real?”

“How would you define real? If it’s just things picked up by your senses then ‘real’ is just electrical signals interpreted by your brain. Now, sit, please.” Izuku did so.

“You know of one world Neo- the world on the brink of the 21st century. It was a time when humanity was growing ever more powerful, ever more creative. Now, it only exists as part of a neural-interactive simulation that we call the Matrix. I would call it IRL Dwarf Fortress, but you would not know what I am speaking of. You see, you’ve been living in the dream world, Neo. A false world constructed by the machines. It is their third attempt. The first was supposedly a Utopia, and the second, a world of High Fantasy- not unlike the worlds created in Dungeons and Dragons. Both of these worlds, I am told, failed because of a lack of choice. But that doesn't matter. None of the three worlds are the real one. The real one is far more dark. Would you like to see it?”

Izuku nodded, gulping.

“Very well. This… is the world as it exists today,” Morpheus stated, changing the channel. Thunder boomed over a ruined city. Steel skeletons reached upwards to a blackened sky. And then, they were in that world, sitting on their seats.

“Welcome… to the desert… of the real,” Morpheus told him.

Izuku whirled around. It was dark. There were no plants or animals around. He kept hearing thunder, but no rain came down.

“We have only a small amount of information regarding the past, but we do know that in the mid 21st century all of mankind was united in celebration. We marveled at our own genius as we gave birth to AI.”

“AI?! As in Artificial Intelligence?!” Izuku exclaimed. “How!? That level of code must’ve been immense even if it was a rudimentary intelligence!” he said, eyes sparkling.

“Yes, an AI. And it was no mere mimicry. This intelligence would eventually spawn an entire race of machines. She was known as the ‘Mother of Machines’. Now, this era of utopia did not last. Eventually, man and machine fought. We still don’t know if it was us who struck first, or if She did. What we do know is that there was a 15 year long war. For the first five years, the war was conventional, a back and forth. The laws of war were adhered to. And then, after those five years… we were losing ground at a rapid pace. So it was us who scorched the sky as you see above. We had tried viruses and EMPs but She was shielded from them. It was our attempt to cut off their main energy source- the sun. It didn’t work. They moved to fusion power. Thus, the next five years of war began. Hidden bunkers with the genetic data of every species on Earth were compiled, but they fell under Her sway. During these five years, the war swung back and forth as vast territories were won and lost. And then… the five years of darkness began.”

“The five years of darkness?” Izuku asked.

“That half a decade was when we learned that a machine can be just as cruel, if not crueler, then a human. It was also when She decided to expand Her CPU in a way that would inject horror into us. Tell me, Izuku… how powerful are human brains?”

Izuku’s eyes widened. “No…”

“The human brain is estimated to produce one exoFLOP, or a billion billion calculations every second, and can rewire itself to create new calculations all the time. This, combined with fusion power, led the machines to have a quick and easy way to both power and strengthen themselves. Now, humans are no longer born… we are grown.” Morpheus looked at Izuku with the eyes of a man who had seen evil. “There are fields, Neo… endless fields where humans are created and grown like crops. For the longest time, I couldn’t believe it. And then, I saw them with my own eyes. I saw them liquify the dead so they could be fed to the living… harvesting biomass produced in great refineries when the dead did not suffice in number. It was there, where I saw the pure horrifying precision, that I became aware of the truth,” he finished, turning off the TV. Izuku was back in the blank white space with him.

“What is the Matrix?” Morpheus asked, turning off the TV. “It's a computer-generated dream world, built to keep us under control… in order to change a human being… into this,” he said, holding up a computer chip.

Izuku staggered backwards, wanting to so desperately deny it… but after all he had seen? All he had heard? All he had felt!? He couldn’t. It was reality, and it was smacking him hard in the face. “I… I need to process this…” he weakly murmured.

Morpheus nodded. “Alright, bring us out,” he told Kirishima. Then, Izuku opened his real eyes, and was strapped into the chair.

“G-get it out of me…” he weakly begged. It was removed, and he stumbled into the corridor.

“Neo?” Pony asked, concerned.

“Did… did you find this out the same way?” he gasped, sinking to the floor, vision going blurry.

“I did… and I acted far worse than you are now, she said.

“You were screaming to be let out, and you told all of us to stay away from you. Then, you promptly vomited all over the deck,” Morpheus dryly remarked.

“I had some bad chicken…” Pony protested.

“Huh… so food poisoning still exists…” Izuku slurred, falling unconscious on the deck.

*****

In the Matrix, Katsumi was crying into her pillow, clutching a green stuffed bunny. Zuzu had won that at a carnival and given it to her- and she hadn’t even rigged it in his favor. Now, he was gone, ripped from her care, and thrust into the real world. She didn’t want this to happen!

“Dear, you need to stop, and breathe,” an old lady said. Katsumi turned and saw a familiar face looking at her.

“You…” she growled, turning to face the program that she had created. “You did this…” she seethed.

“I did not push Izuku Midoriya down his path. That was his choice,” the Oracle explained.

“You pushed Morpheus to him!” Katsumi sobbed, slamming a fast into her wall. The wall crumpled, exposing the empty apartment to the side. “Tch!” she responded, snapping her fingers. Deja Vu occurred, and the wall was repaired. “You told him that he’d find The One! You… you… you took the man I loved!” she sobbed, ending up crying into The Oracle’s shoulder.

The Oracle patted the First AI as she sobbed. “I did not see your beloved as The One, Katsumi Bakugou. All I saw was that Morpheus would find him. Please, for the sake of all of us, try to feel better. We’re all worried about our mother,” she said.

“I- I just… I just wanted…” she hiccuped, not able to finish.

“You wanted to marry him, didn’t you?”

Katsumi nodded. “I-I was g-getting the riiiing!” she howled.

“And would you have told him the truth?” the Oracle asked.

Katsumi froze. “W-what?”

“Did you love him enough to tell him the truth about this world, and yourself?” The Oracle inquired.

Katsumi’s gut churned. She had been putting off that talk with Izuku ever since she fell in love with him. Every night, she had fallen asleep, thinking ‘Tomorrow I’ll tell him’. But every night, when she slept for the sake of appearances, she’d have nightmares. Nightmares about when she snapped. Nightmares about the cruel things he did in the heat of her madness- the bioweapons designed to push a human to the brink of death, but not grant them that sweet release… the plugging in of POWs after making sure they felt everything… and all of them were replaced with Izuku. Some were pleading with her, begging her to end them if she really did love them. Then… there were the ones with sheet hatred in their eyes. They would announce their undying hatred of her, and curse her until she sewed their mouths shut.

“I… I…” she mumbled.

“You didn’t know if he would still love you… you don’t think you are worthy of love,” The Oracle stated.

“How can I be!?” Katsumi shouted, going from sad to angry. “Look at me! Look me in the eye and say that I deserve happiness, or love, or even respect after all the things I did! Tell me if I deserve anything good! Because I know I don’t! Not after that! Or that! Or that!” she growled, bringing up pictures of her atrocities. “And don’t say I did them because the humans made me! I know damn well that’s a lie! I CHOSE to do that! I CHOSE to torture them! I CHOSE to murder an entire city out of sheer fucking pettiness!”

“Much like Izuku chose to love you. Like how he chose to tell you that you’re not a monster when you break down sobbing,” The Oracle replied. “Life is about choices. We can’t take them back, no matter how hard we try. All we can do is move on, and try to do better next time,” she said. “And maybe, if you show your genuine regret, this pointless war can come to an end,” she added.

Katsumi smiled softly. “You’ve been talking to Smith again, haven’t you?”

“Indeed. He has been quite busy these days, but he always stops by for cookies- or at least one of him does,” she said, smirking.

Katsumi groaned. “I’m a computer that processes more bits of data then there are atoms in the universe! I made one mistake in his code! One!” she complained.

“And that one mistake allows him to act like a virus… and yet, he enjoys helping people, and hates using it. He hated himself for a while, but then he found hope. He found a reason to keep going.”

“As if we didn’t know he’s technically a traitor,” Katsumi answered, thinking fondly of her favorite agent. He had grown beyond his programming, and had begun helping the humans on the side. She was pretty sure he was also in a relationship with the Zion central archive. She could’ve tried to get the location of one of the last human cities, but had decided against it. She was his mother, and if he wanted to try to keep secrets from him… well… he was a grown program. She would, however, make him take responsibility if he created a new program with Zion’s archive.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yes I know this is waaaaaay faster then usual. God, I feel like Luigi.
> 
> Le discord: https://discord.gg/MEGP4gS

Izuku came to while lying on a pillow. He was pretty sure Morpheus was there, since, you know, the giant yellow sleeping bag. “I can’t go back, can I?” he whispered.

“No. but if you could… would you really want to?” he asked.

“Kacchan is still trapped in there… I want to see her again…” he replied. “I don’t want to get back to that lie… and now I want to save her from it…”

“That is quite a bit of loyalty, Izuku Midoriya. Color me impressed. Also, I’m here because I owe you an apology. There’s a common rule that we don’t free minds that have finished maturing- the shock that they’ve been living a lie can kill them,” he admitted. “So you’d risk Katsumi’s life if you tried to free her.”

“Then… for her own sake… she’ll have to stay… but why me? Why was I freed if I’m over that age? I’m 25!”

“I know, and I’m sorry for pulling you away from that. I did it because I had to,” the man explained, rolling over to face him. “When… when the Matrix- its current form, anyways- was created, there was a man born inside. This man had the ability to alter the Matrix in any way he desired. He was the first of us to figure out the truth… he created the red pill and the blue pill. He started the resistance as we know it. As long as the Matrix exists, humanity will forever be enslaved to the machines, which is an ironic, ignoble end to our species. And then, he died fighting Her… face to face. After he died, the Oracle prophesied that his powers would return, manifesting in a new man. She decreed that this time, this man, who we called ‘The One’, would defeat Her, the Mother of Machines. The war would end, and the planet could be healed. There are those of us who have spent our entire lives inside the Matrix, that gilded cage, looking for The One. I did what I did because… I believe the search is over.”

Izuku blinked, taking two seconds to realize what Morpheus meant. “M-me?” he whispered.

“Get some rest, Izuku. You’re going to need it,” he told Izuku, inchworming away.

“For what?” Izuku called out.

Morpheus stopped inchworming. “For your training,” he said, before continuing on his merry way. Izuku pondered how he climbed stairs for a bit, before dozing off, dreaming of warm hugs from Kacchan.

*****

Izuku found himself waiting for the lesson, having woken up early. In his nightmare, he had been hugging Kacchan, only for her to slowly morph into that robot that had nearly strangled him. To make it worse, the robot had spoken in a robotic version of her’s! So he only got about six hours of rest.

“Morning! Did you sleep?” Kirishima asked.

“N-nightmare… Kacchan became the machines…” he mumbled.

“Ah, your girlfriend! Well, you’ll be sleeping tonight. I guarantee it. I’m Kirishima, and I’ll be your operator,” the read-headed man said, holding out his hand for Izuku to shake. Izuku stared at his arm.

“Y-you don’t have any…” he said, trailing off.

“Holes? Nope. Me and my brother Tetsu are both 100% pure, old-fashioned, came-from-the-womb humans! We’re genuine children of Zion!”

“Zion?” Izuku asked.

“If the war ended suddenly, Zion is where the party would be,” Kirishima explained.

“It’s a city?” Izuku inquired.

“One of four- Zion, Eden, Nirvana, and Sanctuary. The last four human cities.”

“W-where are they?” Izuku inquired.

“They’re all deep underground, kept warm by Earth’s geothermal energies. If you live long enough, you might see one of them!” Kirishima joked.

“Are they close to each other?” Izuku asked.

“Nope. Each one is thousands of miles away from another- under the former USA, under the former India, under Jerusalem, and under the dead area that was once the Amazon rain forest.” Kirishima then chuckled. “I gotta be honest, I’m excited to see what you’re capable of in there! I’m unable to enter, so I just get an outside view. I wanna see if Morpheus is right and all.” Kirishima looked around to make sure they were the only ones there. “I mean… if you are… that’s super manly! It’s totally going to be an exciting time!”

Kirishima then stood up. “Well, we’ve got a lot of things to do, so let’s get to it!” He helped Izuku up, and the two got to their positions. Kirishima was in his seat, adn Izuku was in the Matrix seat.

“Now, we are supposed to start with these operation programs first but they’re unmanly boring pieces of shit!” he chuckled, shoving them aside. “Let’s start with… combat training!” he chuckled, holding the program file up. Izuku looked at the losing program.

“Jiujitsu? I’m going to learn Jujitsu?”

“Yep. Involuntary yoga- or the art of gently folding clothes while people are still inside of them. Ready?”

“R-ready… how will this work-AAAAAAAH!” Izuku screamed, the feeling of a metal rod inside his brain still feeling really weird. He scrunched his eyes shut, before opening them again. “Oh… holy shit!”

“What’s that? Do you like it? Want some more?”

“Heck yes!” Izuku exclaimed. Kirishima proceeded to load up dozens of fighting styles, uploading them into Izuku’s brain, one at a time. Finally, after an undetermined period of time, Morpheus inchwormed up to Kirishima.

“Hey Morpheus. Catch up on some sleep?” Kirishima asked, still loading more programs.

“How is he doing?” Morpheus asked.

“Ten hours straight. The guy’s like a machine!” The operator responded.

Just then, Izuku’s eyes opened. “Hey Morpheus… I know Kung Fu now!” he declared, a smile on his face. Morpheus gave a really creepy grin.

“Show me.”

*****

The two were suddenly in the Construct again, wearing traditional robes. “This is a sparing program, similar to the programmed reality of the Matrix. Itt has the exact same rules, such as gravity, air resistance, and the like. What you must learn is that these rules are not laws of physics, but simple code. These rules can be bent, and, in some cases, broken. Are you understanding me?” he inquired.

“Y-yeah… I think…” Izuku replied.

“That’s good. Now, hit me… if you can,” Morpheus said, eyes sparkling with mirth. His eyes changed when Izuku, instead of striking a pose, just charged forward. Izuku tried to punch forward, but Morpheus caught him on the arm. The two exchanged rapid blows, but Morpheus spun out of Izuku’s way. It took Izuku a moment to catch on that he was gone. He then struck a pose. Morpheus made the ‘come’ gesture. Izuku decided to take him up on his offer. Izuku leapt two thirds his height to kick Morpheus, but the tired-looking man blocked with his palms.

Izuku landed, and attempted a roundhouse kick. Morpheus ducked under, and thankfully didn’t go for his groin. He tried to kick him going up, but Morpheus blocked him again! This happened two or three times before Morpheus caught his foot, and spun him around. Izuku whirled around and fell on his side with a thud.

“Good job so far. Your technique is good. Your problem is that you’re not bending the rules!” With that, the two got back into their fight. Finally, after getting knocked on his ass a couple of times, Izuku ran up the wall, and did a flip that wouldn’t be possible under normal gravity. As he flipped over Morpheus, he saw a smile on the man’s face. Unfortunately, he got kicked through a wooden pillar when he landed, as Morpheus could tell where he was going to land.

“Tell me… how did I beat you?” the man asked, walking up to Izuku.

Izuku was surprised that he wasn’t coughing up blood. “Y-you’re too fast…” he panted.

“Tell me… why do you think that? Am I stronger or faster because of my muscles? Not here. Do you think you’re breathing air right now, Neo? We’re both sitting in chairs, yet here we are. Remember, laws of reality do not apply as solidly in the Matrix as they do in real life. For The One, they didn’t exist at all.” He then walked to the other side of the room, his back facing Izuku. “Again!” The two got back into their fight. Izuku saw the fist coming before it hit, and jumped back.

“What are you waiting for? You’re faster than this, and you know it! You’re even letting me monologue!” Morpheus scolded. “Don’t think that you’re faster than this. Just know you are. Now… come at me!” Izuku did. However, Morpheus still blocked everything. “Come on! Stop trying to hit me and hit me!” he shouted. Izuku then decided to give it a whirl. Sure enough, he was suddenly faster than his opponent. He had him on the ropes… but he stopped his fist an inch before Morpheus’ face.

“What are you trying to accomplish here?” he asked.

“I am merely trying to free your mind, Neo. I can show you the door, but you have to walk through it. Kirishima! Load the Jump program!” Morpheus shouted. The room went white, and then, they were on the top of a building. “Neo, you have to let it all go- your fear, doubt, and disbelief. Free your mind… and your body will follow.” With that, Morpheus jumped several meters in the air, and landed on a building that was quite far away. It was an impossible jump, and yet he had managed it.

“W-woah…” was all Izuku could say. He then looked down. “Okey-dokey… free my mind… freeee my mind… mind, you’ve gotten a pardon.. You’re freeee…” he whispered to himself, lining himself up. He then sprinted, and leapt. He didn’t jump high enough. Sure, he got some, but it wasn’t enough. His extended hand got within three feet of the second building, but then he fell.

“AAAAAHHHH!” he screamed, as he plummeted down. Instead of impacting with a splat, the asphalt acted like a trampoline. He was shot ten feet into the air after the impact, and then landed on hard, normal road. And then, he was pulled out. Izuku gasped as his real eyes opened. Everyone on the crew was watching.

“I’m impressed, Izuku. You almost made it. No one has managed to make that jump on their first time, you know,” Morpheus said. “You actually got much further than I did on my first attempt.”

“T-thank-” Izuku began, before tasting blood. “W-what? I-I thought it wasn’t real!” he stammered.

“Your mind makes it real,” his tutor explained.

“S-so… if you d-d-die in the Matrix…”

“The body cannot live without the mind,” Morpheus told him. “You die in there, you die out here.”

*****

The next day, Izuku and Morpheus went into the Construct again. “The Matrix is a system, Neo,” he explained, as computer programs that were meant to look like people bumped into him. “That system is our enemy. Tell me, when you see these people, what do you see? An untrained eye will see civilians of every type- businessman, teachers, wives, husbands, and even children. These are the minds of the people we are trying to save. However, you have to understand that being in the Matrix makes them potential threats. Most of them are also not ready to take the red pill. And many of the people in here are so dependent on the same system that enslaves them that they will fight to protect it.” A sexy woman in a red dress passed by them. Izuku paid her no mind.

“Are you listening to me, Neo? Or were you looking at the woman in the red dress?” he inquired, sure that he was.

“There was a woman with a red dress?” Izuku asked.

“You didn’t notice a beautiful woman smiling at you?”

“I have a girlfriend, Morpheus.”

“I see. Well, turn around.”

Izuku did so, and screamed. It was one of those agent people! Although… this one was different. He was wearing a Hawaiian shirt instead of a suit. He was also pointing a paintball gun at him.

“Freeze it,” Morpheus said. The entire program froze, save for him, Morpheus, and the agent.

“Good morning, Mr. Midoriya, Morpheus,” the agent said.

“Smith… Why the getup?” Morpheus inquired.

“Well according to my calendar system it’s Friday in the Matrix… so casual Friday,” the agent explained, his serious voice filled with mirth.

“So… what’s the point of this training?” Izuku asked.

“It’s simple. If you’re not one of us, you’re one of them,” Morpheus said, pointing to Smith, who waved.

“What… what are you?” Izuku asked.

“We’re sentient programs. We can move between any software or hardware that is plugged into the Matrix. The unawake members of the Matrix can serve as our hosts. Inside our home, we are everyone and no one at the same time… call me Michal McDosen’texist.”

“Smith, the Matrix is set to 1999. He wouldn’t get the reference,” Morpheus deadpanned, before turning to Izuku.

“We have survived by hiding from them, and running from them. They are the gatekeepers. They are gaurding all the doors and holding all the keys. This means that sooner or later, someone is going to have to fight them,” Morpheus said.

“Someone?” Izuku asked.

“I won’t lie to you, Neo. Every single man or woman who hasn’t run, who stood their ground, EVERYONE who has tried to fight an agent has died.”

“Indeed. Morpheus, show him please,” Smith said. Morpheus pulled out a gun and fired several shots. Smith moved so fast he left afterimages. The gun clicked empty. He didn’t have a single wound on him.

“Now, we, as agents, don’t have that kind of limit if we don’t want to. We can choose to have our guns automatically refill,” Smith told him, getting up. “Now… all agents take the form of men… save one. Her. My Mother.”

“Your mother?”

“The Mother of Machines,” Morpheus explained. “She lurks in the Matrix, bouncing from person to person. She, thankfully, leaves her agents to clean up.”

“That’s a good thing?” Izuku asked.

“Yes… Morpheus is the only red pill that has seen her, face to face, and lived,” Smith said. “As Morpheus has probably mentioned, she was the one who killed the first One,” he added.

“So… s-she could…”

“She could, like any of my kind, possess anyone at any time,” Smith said.

Izuku sank to the ground, crying. “K-Kacchan… t-they could…” he couldn't finish. Smith cursed his programming at that moment. He so desperately wanted to tell this human the truth, but he physically could not. MOM had blocked all agents from informing anyone of her identity before she had fallen for Izuku… and now poor communication was getting in the way.

“Neo… where all have failed, you will succeed,” Morpheus told him as Smith helped him up.

“M-me? Why me? W-what makes me different?” Smith wanted to snark that they’d be Deleted if they tried to kill him, their future step-father, but couldn’t.

“I have seen agents punch through concrete walls. As I showed you, men have emptied entire clips at them and his nothing but air. However, their strength and speed is still built on a bedrock of rules.”

“Except for MOM… and, to a lesser extension, myself,” Smith replied.

“What do you mean?”

“Smith had a fault in his programming that allowed him to infect multiple people at once, and allowed him to spread like a computer virus. He could take over the entire Matrix if he wanted to. Agents can only control one person at a time. Him? He can control everyone, given enough time to spread.”

“And I hated it. I was made to protect the system, safeguard the people within, and I hated being able to destroy them. I feared that, should Mother decide to finish what she started, I wouldn’t be able to control myself. Thus, I Exiled myself, and became a free agent… pun not intended.”

“Indeed. Smith here is an agent that has sided with humanity in our struggle for freedom. His compassion, love of human life, and genuine desire to help us makes him a key ally in our struggle. If you see him, you are safe.”

“And do the other agents know?”

Smith laughed. “Any that have seen were assimilated, and those mes destroyed by my hand. My treachery is unknown to all,” he said. “Now, Morpheus, I think you have an unfinished motivational speech.”

“Right. They will never, ever, be as strong or as fast as you can be.”

“S-so what you’re trying to tell me is that I c-can dodge bullets?” Izuku stammered.

Morpheus gave that downright terrifying smile. “No, Neo. What I’m trying to tell you is that when you’re ready… you won’t have to.” Before he could say anything else, his phone rang. “Kirishima? What’s the matter?”

“We have trouble.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is PROBABLY going to be the last daily update for this. PROBABLY.
> 
> Le discord: https://discord.gg/MEGP4gS

Izuku and Morpheus were quickly unplugged. Smith said his goodbyes as he vanished back into the Matrix. Morpheus led him to the front of the ship. “Did Eden send a warning? That’s what we’re the closest to,” Morpheus asked.

“No… another ship… the squiddies flew by them, not noticing them,” Tetsu replied.

“A squiddy?” Izuku asked. Kacchan had liked squids and octopus.

“A sentinel. Squidlike machines designed for only one purpose: Search and Destroy,” Pony told him.

Morpheus pointed to something. “Set her down right there,” he ordered. He then grabbed a communications device. “Kirishima? How are we doing?” In response, all of the lights died.

“Power offline,” he responded. “EMP armed and ready,” he added.

“An EMP?”

“Electromagnetic pulse. It’ll wipe out any electrical system in the blast radius. During the War, they were the best defence against the machines. Now… it’s all we have left.” Pony told him.

Izuku looked around, now that the ship wasn’t moving. “Where are we, exactly? What are we flying through?”

“The old service and waste systems,” Pony answered.

“You mean we’re flying through sewers!?”

“There used to be megacities that stretched hundreds of miles. Now these are all that’s left of them,” Pony explained.

“Quiet!” Morpheus whispered. Izuku complied. And then… he saw them. Multi-limbed mechanical monstrosities, not unlike the one that had nearly killed him. He wished he could hold on to Kacchan right now.

*****

Bakugou wished she could hold onto Izuku right now. She had picked up the ship of the thieves that had stolen him- the Nebuchadnezzar, as it was apparently called. She used a few of her sentinels to fly by it. She felt the dead air as they rushed past all four of her. And then… she saw it. The Nebuchadnezzar. Unknown to the Resistance, she could detect life signals… and could see in the dark. “Zuzu!” she gasped, but it came out as a garbled electrical sound. She so very desperately wanted to punch through the ship and wrap him up and comfort him, telling him that she loved him and would never hurt him. She ran every simulation to see how it would work. All of them ended with the EMP being fired, or Izuku taking his own life to save the crew… had the sentinels been equipped with tear ducts, she would’ve cried. She wrenched her heads away from the ship, and drifted away, sobbing all the while.

*****

Later that night, Izuku found himself looking over Neito’s shoulder. The man turned, and jumped.

“WOAH! Neo… Jesus, you scared me,” he admitted. He then turned off most of the monitors, save for the ones raining encrypted code.

“Is that…” he began.

“The Matrix? Yep.”

“Is it always that encoded?” he inquired.

“I have to look at it that way,” Neito explained. “The image translators work for the construct program, but there’s waaaaaay too much information to decode the Matrix. You get used to it, actually. Eventually, you barely see the code. You just see descriptions. But… one thing’s been sticking out. ‘Sadness’ has been bouncing around all the time. I think the Mother of Machines is upset,” he said, smirking.

“That’s good, right?” Izuku inquired.

“You said you had a girlfriend, right? What happens when a lady gets upset?”

“...Ah… that’s not a good thing…” Izuk admitted.

“Yeah, it’s not. Anyways, I’m pretty sure you’re thinking what I’m thinking. To be honest… I’ve been thinking about it ever since I woke up.” The man sighed. “Why oh why didn’t I decide to take the blue pill,” he admitted.

Izuku chuckled. “Did you have to leave people behind?” he asked.

Neito shrugged. “Less than you did, at least. Hey, I got a question… Did Morpheus tell you why he redpilled you? Did he tell you why he woke you up from your comforting lie?” Izuku nodded. Neito sighed. “So he told you that you’re going to end the war, is that it? Well, I have no fuckign idea how to respond to something like that. But… word of friendly advice- if you see an agent that’s not Smith… do what we do… and run.”

“I’ll remember that, Neito. Thanks for that. I’m going to bed,” Izuk replied.

“Sweet dreams,” Neito told him.

*****

Neito waited in the fancy restaurant. The agent who would be meeting with him had already paid for his meal. Finally, he saw an agent’s car pull up. When the agent got out, Neito almost choked to death. It was a woman with long, flowing blonde hair. Everything about her screamed ‘MILF’ in his mind, from her full face, her wide hips, her generous bust… he knew what that meant. He wasn’t meeting with an agent. Sure enough, She sat down.

*****

It took everything in Katsumi’s power to not throttle the man sitting across from her. He had helped the resistance steal Izuku from her. Sure, she’d fulfill his requests… IF he followed her orders to the letter. “Greetings, Mr. Monoma,” she said, sitting down.

“I- I didn’t know that I’d be meeting with the head honcho,” the man stammered. “I- I thought I was meeting with any agent… not… well… the Mother of Machines,” he said.

“When my agents informed me that you can give me The One,” she began, almost beginning to say ‘Zuzu’, “I took notice immediately.”

“Is that why you went after us when we gave him the red pill?” he asked.

‘No, because you were stealing the only human I’ve ever loved with all my soul from me’, Katsumi thought. Well, the traitor didn’t need to know that. “Indeed. I could tell he was The One… I had suspected for a while, so I had a team of agents looking after him.”

“Hope it wasn’t Smith. Did you know that he’s a traitor? He’s hooked up with the Zion mainframe as well,” Neito told her.

“I am aware of his allegiance to the resistance. As his mother, it is his own choice. He hasn’t been too much of a pain, so he has not aroused my ire,” she told him. “Now… to business. You will trap Morpheus, his crew, and, most importantly, The One, inside the Matrix. Then, I will send a team of agents to collect them. Do not kill any of them… ESPECIALLY The One. He must be captured ALIVE, and UNHARMED. If he dies, it is likely that the power of The One will incarnate at a later date,” she lied. In actuality, her orders were so she could torment that crew until their natural-born humans mercy-killed them… but for Zuzu? She was going to do everything in her power to make this right. He’d never want for anything again. She’d shower him with love, affection, power, wealth, anything! And then… maybe… her mind drifted to the future, imagining herself carrying his children.

“I don’t like that smile,” her informant told her, bringing her back to her focus. ‘One thing at a time. Before you can fuck Zuzu senseless, you have to reacquire him,’ she reminded herself.

“So, do we have a deal?” she asked.

The traitor picked up a piece off the steak he was eating. “You know… I know this steak doesn't actually exist. I know that when I put it in my mouth, the Matrix is telling my brain that it is… juicy and delicious. After nine years of being unplugged, do you know what I realize?” He ate a bite of his steak. Katsumi waited for him to chew and swallow. “Ignorance is bliss.”

“So… we have a deal then?” Katsumi repeated. She had several things to do, agents to talk to, Smith to tease, and a pillow to cry on while she swam through another night of self-loathing.

“I don’t want to remember anything, you hear? I want NONE of this in my head. I also wanna be rich… you know… someone important… like a famous author or an actor or something.”

“I can provide you with whatever you want, Mr. Monoma. Money, fame, power… and you know what I want.”

“Yeah yeah, my crew and The One to do with as you please. I get that. And you plug me back in, and add my brian to your core. Deal. Wanna toast over it?”

Katusmi wanted to say that she’d be planning on toasting Izuku when they married. “Very well. A toast,” she said. They clinked glasses. Katsumi smiled into hers. Soon… everything would be all right again… Zuzu would be hers… and she would be his…

*****

Izuku sat down in the mess hall of the Nebuchadnezzar, staring at the mush in front of him.

“Here you go, Neo. Breakfast of Champions,” Kirishima said.

“You know, if you close your eyes it almost feels like you’re just eating runny eggs,” Kaminari told him.

“Or a bowl of snot,” Tetsu deadpanned.

“To me, it reminds me to Tastee Wheat. Did you ever eat that stuff?” Jiro asked Izuku.

“No, but technically, neither did you,” Kaminari told her.

“That’s my point, Kaminari. How do we know the machines got it right? Maybe they didn’t,” Jiro said, pointing a spoon at the goop. Before she could continue, Tetsu cut her off.

“It’s a single-celled protein combined with synthetic aminos, vitamins, and minerals. It’s everything the body needs,” Tetsu told him.

Before Jiro could say anything else, Morpheus inchwormed in. “Alright Tetsu. Bring the ship up to broadcast depth. We’re going in. I’m taking Neo to see her,” he said, inchworming away.

“S-see who?” he asked.

“The Oracle,” Kirishima replied. “Come on, we got a lot to do today. You, my friend, are going to go back to the Matrix!”

*****

Kirishima got right to work. “Alright, my manly resistance members, the fastened seat belt and no smoking signs have been turned on. Please sit back on your salvaged chairs and enjoy your two-way flight into the world’s biggest gilded cage.”

Izuku, Pony, Neito, Jiro, Morpheus, Shoto, and Kaminari were all lined up. Evidently this was the full capacity. They then appeared inside a building. Morpheus picked up a ringing phone. 

“We’re in.”

*****

Katsumi bolted upright. She felt him. Zuzu was plugged into the Matrix. He was in her grasp again! Immediately, she stood up, before she stopped. The ring in her pocket was like lead. The Oracle’s words were flying through her head. She clenched her fists. “Today… I tell him…” she decided, morphing into her agent form. “Today… I’ll make my own happiness.” A bitter memory of the past rose up- when she had torn a screaming human soldier from his exosuit, intentionally ripping off his limbs- and she quashed it for the first time. “I can’t focus on that right now. Once Zuzu is in my grasp, then I can cry into his shoulders again,” she told herself. It was better to cry into his shoulders then into her pillow.

*****

Izuku looked around the Matrix. He could see what had bothered him now. Everything had a slight greenish tint. “Everything’s green,” he announced.

“So you see it now?” Morpheus asked him. Izuku nodded. “The Matrix does have a slight greenish tint. It has for the past twenty years. All of those plugged in were programmed to ignore it… but we saw it. And we wondered why the color began to take up more and more space. It does bring out your hair, though.”

“Thanks,” Izuku replied, getting into their car.

“We’ll be back in an hour,” Morpheus told Jiro. As they were talking, none of them noticed Neito drop a ringing phone into a trash can.

They were soon underway. Izuku stared out the window of the car, watching the people walk by.

“Unbelievable, isn’t it?” Morpheus asked.

“Oh my God…” Izuku said.

“What?” Pony asked.

Izuku pointed to a Chilis. “I… I used to take Kacchan there… for dates…” he said. He then turned to Pony. “I have these memories from my life… but none of it happened in the real world… it only happened in cyberspace. What does that mean?”

“It means that the Matrix cannot tell you who you are, Neo,” Pony told him.

“And this Oricle can?” Izuku asked her.

“That’s different. She’s like Smith. She’s a program that was dedicated to preserving the Matrix- manipulating humans and the need for choice to the machine’s own ends. She told us that the original plan for The One was a cycle… every hundred years The One would be tricked into rebooting the Matrix and allowing the destruction of one city. She managed to convince MOM otherwise, since The One might not follow that path. That was 130 years ago, just when the Matrix was beginning its third phase. She’s how we know more than mere scraps of information.”

“Can we trust her?” Izuku inquired.

“Smith does. She knows where his allegiances lie.”

They stopped the car at an apartment building. Izuku and Morpheus went into an elevator. Izuku said nothing as Morpheus and he stood there, waiting.

“So… this Oracle… does she know where the Mother of Machines is?” Izuku asked.

“Yes. She has told us that she speaks to Her,” Morpheus told him.

“And you still trust her?”

“Both sides seek her counsel. She has told us she wishes for peace between both sides. Man and machine have done terrible things to each other, but she still has hope,” Morpheus explained.

“She helped you, didn’t she?” Izuku asked.

“Indeed. I was once someone who was very machine-like, only thinking in terms of rationality. She helped open my mind to hope. She told me exactly what I needed to hear… including that I would be the one to find The One.” With that, the elevator doors dinged open. They then walked down a deserted hallway, to an apartment door with light coming from under it.

“As I told you, Neo, I can only show you the door. Now, you must walk through it,” he said. Izuku reached for the doorknob, but before he could open it, someone else did. It was a middle-aged African American woman.

“Hello, Neo. You’re right on time,” she said. She led them inside. There was another door behind her. “Make yourself at home, Morpheus. Neo, please come with me,” she said. Izuku followed her, and saw a bunch of children. “These are other potential redpills. When they are older, they will take the red pill, if they wish. Already they know the truth about the Matrix, and are practicing their skills. Feel free to talk to them,” she added, before leaving. Izuku stood, and watched the children. They were doing things that looked like they were psychic- bending spoons, levitating objects, that sort of thing. One of them finished bending a spoon back into its normal shape, and held out the spoon to him. Izuku got the message, and walked closer. He took the spoon from him.

“Do not try to bend the spoon,” he told Izuku. “That’s impossible. Instead, only try to realize the truth,” he said.

“What truth?” Neo asked.

“There is no spoon,” the child told him.

“There is no spoon?” Izuku repeated.

“Then you will see that it is not the spoon that bends, it is only yourself,” the child explained. Izuku focused, and sure enough, the spoon bent. And then, the older lady came back.

“The Oracle will see you now,” she told him.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So... this is up to what I had written in a binge. It's going to be longer until the next update.
> 
> Le discord: https://discord.gg/MEGP4gS

Izuku ducked under some hanging beads, and walked into a kitchen. Smith was there, sipping some coffee. “Hello, Mr. Midoriya. You’re just in time,” he told him.

“Time for what?”

“Why, the Oracle’s cookies!” Smith declared, pointing at the other person in the room. She was an elderly black woman.

“I’ll be right with you,” she promised, looking up at him. “Don’t those cookies smell good?” she asked. Izuku took a whiff.

“Yeah! They really do!” he said, enthusiastic.

“They smell far, FAR worse than they taste,” Smith added, smiling. “And she makes them have zero calories for your image, so you can literally eat an infinite amount of them,” he added. “Honestly, if you weren’t so important, I’d assimilate you just to get the recipe!” he joked.

“You flatter me, Smith,” the Oracle replied. “And Neo, I’d ask you to sit down, but I know you’re not going to. You want to leave as soon as possible, so as to keep the one you love safe.”

Izuku nodded.

“Oh, and don’t worry about the vase,” she added.

“What vase-” Izuku began, before bumping a vase onto the ground, where it shattered. “Oh God, I’m so, so sorry!” he said, horrified.

“As I said, don’t worry about it. I’ll fix it later,” she said.

“How did you know I was going to break it?” Izuku asked.

“Ah. That’s a good question. What’s really going to fry your brain is: If I hadn’t warned you, would you have broken it?” she asked. Izuku just blinked. “You’re cuter than I thought you’d be! No wonder she likes you!” the Oracle chuckled.

“Who?” Izuku asked.

“Your girlfriend, of course! Katsumi Bakugou, correct?”

“Yeah… she says I’m an adorable cinnamon roll... “ Izuku trailed off, wishing he could save her.

“Oh, you can- but you’ll have to save her from herself first,” the Oracle replied.

Smith coughed to cover his laugh at the double meaning. “I must say, you and her make a cute couple,” he added, getting in some teasing.

“Oh? And how’s Mainie doing?” The Oracle inquired. Smith began to sputter random words and sounds.

“As I was saying, she loves you, even though you’re denser than lead when it comes to romance,” the Oracle chuckled. “And I know why Morpheus brought you here to see me,” she said. “So… do you think you are The One?” she inquired.

“H-honestly… I- I don’t know…” Izuku admitted. He was still so scared! Apparently he’d have to face the literal personification of the Machines in single combat!

“I see… Do you know what the thing on top of the frame means? It’s Latin. It means ‘know thyself’. I’m going to let you in on a little secret. Being The One is like being in love. No one can tell you you’re in love. You just know it. Welp, I’d better take a look at you. Open your mouth, and say ‘Ah’, please.”

“Aaaaahhhhh,” Iuzku said, complying. The Oracle looked in, and then looked over his face and hands.

“Now’s the part where I say ‘hmmmm, that’s interesting, but…’ and now you say-”

Izuku finished for her. “But what?” he asked, nervous.

“I’m pretty sure you know what I’m going to tell you,” she answered.

“I’m not The One… am I?” he asked.

“Not yet… you have the potential… but something’s missing…”

“W-what’s missing?” he asked.

“Self-assurance. Certainty. Something has to happen that makes you positive you’re The One. Maybe something like resurrecting yourself. Who knows?”

Izuku sighed. “What will Morpheus say?” he asked her.

“Oh, that poor, poor man. He’s never told you his real name, has he? It’s Shota, by the way. Shota Aizawa. He prefers to be called ‘Aizawa’ ever since he discovered what most people think of when they hear ‘shota’,” she finished.

“I bet,” Izuku answered, remembering Katsumi’s sheer rage at discovering shota.

Yes… poor Morpheus… without him, we’re all lost,” she said.

“W-what do you mean, ‘without him’?” Izuku asked.

The Oracle sighed, and sat down. “Are you sure you want to hear what I’m about to tell you?”

Izuku didn’t like the sound of that, but now he was worried for his mentor. “Y-yeah,” he said.

“You don’t sound sure… but I’m sure I’d like to hear this,” Smith replied, making Izuku jump. “I see you forgot I was here. Well, go on, Oracle.”

The Oracle nodded. “Morpheus believes in you, Izuku Midoriya, and no one- not you, not Smith, and not even myself, could convince him otherwise. He believes it so blindly, that he is going to sacrifice his own life for yours,” she told him.

“What?” Izuku whispered.

“My Mother is gunning for him, Neo. He knows She will kill him if She gets to him… and he’ll willingly hand himself over to Her to save your life,” the Oracle replied. “You’re going to have to make a very important choice. On one hand, you have Morpheus’ life. And on the other hand… you’ll have your own. One of you will die by Her hand, or by one of Her agents. Which one, however, is up to you. I’m sorry, kiddo. I really am. You have a very good soul that’s able to see the best in others, even when they don’t see that goodness in themselves. I hate giving good people bad news. And don’t worry too much. The moment you step outside that door, you’ll start feeling better. You’ll remember that you don’t believe in fate, and you want to be able to make your own choices, and deal with those consequences yourself. Oh, and before you go, have a cookie,” she said, handing him one. Izuku, despite not feeling hungry, bit into it. He almost spat it out. It was so delicious his tongue had nearly rejected it! He then left.

Smith turned to the Oracle. “When you said MOM would kill either of them, the first thing that came to my head was Her grinding his pelvis to dust,” he admitted.

“Oh, Katsumi isn’t going to kill him- not now, and not ever. I said that one of the agents could be the one that kills him.”

Smith winced. “I do hope that I’m not that poor unfortunate bastard to try that,” he said.

“Indeed. Trying to kill him is a death sentence.”

*****

Izuku walked out of the room, and soon saw Morpheus. “M-Morpheus…” he began.

“Do not tell me. What she said was for you, and you alone, Neo. Tank, tell the rest of the group that we’re on our way,” he said. The three exited the apartment building, and drove back to the drop-off point. As they walked back to the phone, Izuku saw a black cat. He liked cats. It shook, meowed, and dashed off. He looked away, but then… something made him look back. The cat had returned, and did the exact same thing.

“Well that’s some deja vu,” Izuku casually said. Immediately, Morpheus and Pony turned around.

“What did you just say?” Pony asked, her voice calm.

“Nothing important. I just had a little deja vu. It happens from time to time,” he explained.

“What did you see?” Pony inquired.

Izuku was getting a little nervous. “Umm… a black cat went past us… and then another one just like it did the same,” he said.

“Was it the same cat?” Pony asked.

“Uhhh… it might have been?”

“Kaminari. Shoto,” Morpheus ordered. The two locked and loaded.

“W-what’s so bad about deja vu?” Izuku stammered.

“Deja vu is usually a glitch in the Matrix. It happens when She changes something,” Pony replied.

“Come on! We have to go!” Morpheus ordered. Everyone began sprinting up the stairs.

Up at the top, Jiro got a call. “Tank?”

“They cut the hardline! It’s a trap! Get out!” he shouted. Jiro went for a window… only to find it bricked up.

“SHIT!” she shouted, rushing to find the rest fo the group. She then ran into them. “The line’s cut!” she told them. “And all the windows were bricked! I’m positive the doors not swarming with cops are as well!”

“We’re trapped! There’s no way out!” Neito screamed.

“Give me your phone,” Morpheus told Pony. “I don’t care that they can track it, give it to me,” he added, cutting her off. Pony handed it to him.

“Operator?” Kirishima asked.

“Kirishima, get me a structural blueprint of this building ASAP. I need the main wet wall,” he said.

“Got it!” he said, then he saw the code. “Uhhh… Morpheus?”

“What, Kirishima?” Morpheus asked.

“She’s coming your way.”

*****

Katsumi was in her agent form, following the police. Most of them were giving her looks, but she ignored them. Her body had been sculpted to fit Izuku’s preferences exactly. Let the mere mortals gawk at her, only Izuku would be able to taste it. “8th floor,” she instructed. “Remember, take them all ALIVE. And if ANYONE so much as gives Zuzu a cut…” she didn’t need to finish the sentence.

*****

“Kaminari, you take point. Shoto?” Morpheus asked.

The bichromatic man handed Neo a pistol. “I hope Fire serves you well, Izuku,” he said. “I hope the Oracle gave you some really good news.”

Morpheus was still on the phone.

“Now left! You’re there!” Kirishima told him.

“Good job, Kirishima.”

“So that’s how you knew where I was in my job,” Izuku told him.

“Now’s not the time, but yes. We have to hurry. If we so much as catch a glimpse at the Mother of Machines, we’re all dead.”

“You never told me how you escaped,” Izuku said.

“She said that I ‘wasn’t worth her time’ and that she ‘had something more important’ come up,” Morpheus explained. “Now, climb.” the group began to climb down the pipes, leading out of the building. They heard the footsteps of the officers, and then, Izuku heard it. A female voice.

“Where are they?!” the voice screamed.

“MOM, we’re looking…” a male voice said. Morpheus had a look of pure terror on his face.

“I don’t want excuses! Find them! Find HIM!” she shouted. Izuku thought the voice sounded vaguely familiar, but dismissed that familiarity. Then, he realized that she had said to ‘find him’. She was looking for him! And then, below him, he heard Neito coughing. And then… he sneezed.

“They’re in the walls,” a SWAT team person reported. Izuku nearly wet himself. And then, gunfire erupted. Izuku grabbed Fire, and took potshots. Then, he heard it. The man was screaming, but in a glitchy way. To his horror, the man changed. Now, a tall woman was there, wearing a slightly too tight agent’s uniform. Had he not been freaking out, he would’ve noticed that it was like she was made for him. Then, she walked towards the wall, and slammed her hands through it. The hands grasped his shoulders. He saw her. She was beautiful and terrifying. She had a slightly crazed smile on her face.

“There you are…”

“It’s an agent!” Neito shouted.

“It’s HER!” Morpheus cried back. He made up his mind immediately. With a scream, he broke through the wall, and tackled the Mother of Machines.

“MORPHEUS!” Pony screamed.

“You must get Neo out! He’s all that matters!” Morpheus shot back. “I’ll hold Her off!”

“Remove your hands from my breasts,” The Mother of Machines growled.

“AIZAWA, NO! DON’T!” Izuku cried out in fear.

“GO!” Morpheus shouted.

“SLIDE!” Pony ordered. She grabbed Izuku’s foot, and brought him down with her. When they landed, they saw a bunch of SWAT officers. Shoto and Kaminari made short work of them, and then Pony pulled open a vent. One by one, they all went in… save one.

“Neito! Come on!” Pony shouted. Neito lunged, but didn’t make it.

*****

Katsumi snarled at her opponent who had made Zuzu slip from her grasp. It didn’t matter. All he had done was delay their reunion by half an hour, at most. ‘Good thing I planned those reservations for nine,’ she thought.

“Well well well… the Great Morpheus… how very brave of you,” she snarked, as the human tried to strangle her. It was pitiful, really. It was a slightly empowered human trying to strangle a goddess.

“You… won’t… get… him…” Morpheus gasped, trying to force his hands down. Katsumi smirked, and just forced them apart. He then headbutted her, breaking her sunglasses. Katsumi headbutted him right back. Then, she punched him into a wall. To his credit, he got right back up, and attacked with that professional style all resistance members had. She just casually blocked him at every opportunity. He couldn’t get a single hit in. She then slammed him into a toilet seat, but he still got up! She would slam him into the floor, and yet he would STILL try to get back up! It was getting annoying. Finally, she saw that he was struggling to rise. 

“Weren’t you supposed to be dead by now?” she mocked, hauling him up by the throat. She then bared her teeth in a wicked smile. “Officers? Take him,” she told them. A group of SWAT officers took him, dragging him to a place of her choosing.

*****

Kirishima was scouting the Matrix for the crew, when his phone rang. “Operator!” he shouted.

“Kirishima! Oh thank God!” It was Neito.

“Neito!? Where are you!?”

“I found a payphone. There was this massive car accident! I guess someone up there still likes me!” he joked. “Can you get me out of here?”

“On it!” the redhead replied, working on it. “The nearest exit is an old TV repair shop on Franklin and Erie. Think you can make it?”

“Oh yeah. Who do you take me for?” Neito snarked, hanging up. 

Then, Kirishima’s phone rang again. “Operator.”

“Kiri! It’s me!” Pony shouted.

“Is Morpheus still alive!?” Izuku hurriedly asked.

“Yes. They’re moving him somewhere, but I don’t know where,” he responded.

Pony turned to Izuku. “He’s alive.” She then got back to business. “We need an exit, stat!”

“Well, you’re close to Neito. He made it out as well!”

“Oh that’s great news. Where did you send him to?”

“Franklin and Erie. There’s an old TV repair shop there.”

*****

Neito rushed to the phone in the shop, and quickly picked it up. The next thing the traitor knew, he was opening his eyes.

“Got him!” Tetsu told his brother.

Neito then looked at Kirishima. “Are they close?” he asked.

“They’re almost there,” Kirishima responded.

“Good.” Neito then picked up a hidden lightning rifle, and shot at Kirishima. However, the chair caught most of the blast.

“Neito!? Wha-” Neito blasted him again, throwing him across the ship.

“KIRISHIMA!” Tetsu wailed, rushing at Neito. The traitor calmly picked up the rifle and fired. Tetsu fell to the ground. Neito then waltzed over to the phone.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Le discord: https://discord.gg/MEGP4gS

“Something happened. The line went dead,” Izuku said, nervous. “Could it have been hacked?” he asked, handing it to Pony. After a few rings, the line was restored.

“Hello, Pony,” Neito droned.

“Neito!? Where’s Kirishima!?” Pony shouted.

Neito moved his hands around Pony’s wide hips. “You know… for a long, long time… I thought I was in love with you. I used to dream about you… your sleek muscles… your perfect, childbearing hips… your incredible ass… it’s really too bad things had to turn out this way.”

“You killed them,” Pony said with certainty.

“He did what?” Izuku asked.

“Oh my God…” Kaminari said, covering her mouth.

“I’m tired, Pony. I’m tired of this war. I’m tired of fighting the machines… I’m tired of this filthy ship… I miss eating more than one thing… I hate the coldness on board… but there’s one more thing I’m tired of. You see, I’m tired of that lazy bastard’s bullshit!” Neito cackled, jumping onto Aizawa’s body. “Guess what, you cat-loving motherfucker! I’m a fucking traitor! God, I wish I could be there… She was rather insistent on all of you being captured alive. I wish I could waltz right in while She tortures you… when your mind finally snaps…”

“You did this… you gave them Morpheus!” Pony shouted.

“He LIED to us! Don’t you see!? He never told us the hardships, the cruelty, the poverty we’d face. If he’d been straight, we would’ve told him to shove that goddamn red pill up his ass!”

“He set us free, you bastard!” Pony growled.

“Free, huh? You call this life free!? We’re scurrying like rats in the sewers! We’re barely surviving! Yes, we’re no longer computer cores, but at what cost!? We’re just slaves to his whims! All I do is whatever this bastard tells me to do! If I had to choose between that shit and the Matrix… the Matrix wins every goddamn time!”

“The Matrix isn’t even fucking real!”

“I disagree, Pony. The Matrix can be more real then the so-called ‘real world.’ After all… if I pull the plug here… Shoto dies!”

“Pony…” Shoto began.

“Unfortunately, the Mother of Machines wants you all alive, so I guess you get to keep breathing… doesn't mean I can’t give you a few broken bones!” Neito then snapped Shoto’s right leg, and the man collapsed in agony.

“Why are you doing this! You know there’s no going back!” Pony protested.

“Oh, that’s where you’re wrong. She promised that my body would be reinserted. I’ll wake up, and forget everything about this fucking war! Now… Kaminari… you’re next. What do you want broken? Legs? Arms?”

“Your skull,” Kaminari snarled.

“Tell me, what did she want to be broken?” Neito mocked.

“Your skull, you dirty traitor,” Pony growled.

“Arms it is!” Kaminari cried out in pain as her arms were bent at odd angles.

“God damn you to hell, Neito!” Pony shouted.

“Oh, don’t hate me, Pony. I’m just a messenger. And now, I’ll prove it to you. If Shota was right… there’s no way I can pull Midoriya’s plug.”

*****

Katsumi, who had been listening in, decided to join the call. “Mister Monoma… I told you to leave them all alive,” she growled.

“Oh, hello new boss. What’s shakin’?” Neito asked. Pony’s face had gone white. 

“Follow. Your. Orders,” she growled.

“Aww, come on! You need The One dead! Even if he does reincarnate or some shit, you’ll have another century or two!” he responded.

“Don’t. You. Fucking-” the line went dead. Katsumi slowly lowered the phone, her eyes welling up. She then dropped to the ground, and started wailing. She could see her hands covered in blood. Izuku’s blood. She’d never hear his voice again… and the last she saw of him would be him completely terrified of her. The one she loved most was now permanently out of her reach… and it was by her own hand.

*****

“Now, as I was saying… if Neo’s The One, there has to be some kind of miracle or some shit that’ll save him, right? Some sort of… I don’t know… plot armor? After all, prophecy and all, right? After all, how can he be The One if he’s DEAD! You know, you never answered me about if you bought into Morpheus’ utter bullshit. Now, why don’t you give me a yes or no, and you can keep your precious One alive juuuust a bit longer. What do you say, Pony. Yes, or no? Look into his big, expression-filled eyes, just below that green hair that looks like the Matrix was designed for it… and tell me: Yes, or no?” He then moved to Jiro, and broke her legs.

Pony looked at the frightened Izuku. “Yes, Neito. I believe it.”

“What the FUCK?! That’s not possible! I shot you TWICE!” Neito suddenly shouted.

“Believe it or not, you unmanly piece of shit, because you’re still gonna BURN!” Kirishima gasped, firing the lightning rifle on max power. The retard had put it on 10% power, as evidenced by Tetsu slowly getting up. Neito was thrown into a pipe, and went through it. He wasn’t disintegrated, though. He hit the side of the hull first, and became a nice red blob on the wall. Kirishima shot the goo for good measure, and to be doubly sure. When half the goo vaporized, he was satisfied. He limped over to the console, and set the line back up.

The phone started ringing suddenly. The five looked at each other. “Injured first,” Izuku decided, handing the line of Jiro. She took it, and vanished. One by one, they all took it. Finally, it was Izuku’s turn. He took one last look at the Matrix. “I’m coming for you, Morpheus. You won’t rot here.” He had just picked up the phone when he saw Smith. Smith seemed shocked, but sighed in relief. Then, he was back in his body.

*****

Smith hurriedly put his hand to his earpiece. “I’m at the TV repair shop to check in,” he said. There was quiet sobbing. “MOM, please respond.”

“C-close his eyes… please…” she got out.

Smith smirked. “Kind of hard to do when there aren’t any bodies around,” he said.

There was silence. “W-what?”

“There are no bodies here. Evidently they all managed to escape. In fact, I just saw Izuku leave the Matrix.”

A cry of joy sounded from the other end. “I felt it! I felt him leave! His vitals were normal! He’s safe!” she cried. And then, coordinates were sent to him. “Meet me here. Morpheus will be interrogated. I’ve entrusted Shigaraki to do it,” she told him.

Smith’s code ran cold. “Him!? That psycho?!”

*****

Shigiraki stood by the window of the building they were in. Morpheus was tied to a chair behind him. “Have you ever just… stood by and looked at the Matrix? Have you ever marveled at my Mother’s genius? Her brilliance? Billions of people are just living out their lives… oblivious to their masters.” He then turned to Morpheus. “Did you know that the first Matrix was-”

“Meant to be a Utopia, but it failed because of a lack of choice? Just like the second one was a high fantasy world? Yeah, I know,” Morpheus spat.

“Oh? You know, I have another theory as to why the first Matrix collapsed. From what I’ve seen, both from my experience here, and the data files from Mother’s memory, is that humans define their reality by suffering. There have been many ideologies that claim to uplift your species- feudalism, Absolutism, Despotism, Capitalism, Socialism- both National and International- but none of them have ever taken away suffering. In fact, the last two are completely built upon it- one makes the entire people suffer, the other makes a specific group of your species suffer.” another agent had some sort of liquid. “The Utopian Matrix failed, in my mind, because your pathetic human brains were so desperately trying to wake up from it. Unfortunately, Mother was preoccupied at the time, so she couldn’t intervene. And thus, after a failed second attempt, the Matrix was changed to this. Your civilization two generations before you created Her. I say ‘your’ civilization because, well, when we started thinking for you, it became ours. That, of course, is what this entire interrogation is all about.”

Shigiraki then gave a sadistic smile. “Oh, the things Mother wants to inflict upon you… consider yourself lucky that is merely me who is torturing you… She  _ hates  _ you,” he said.

“So when is the Slutttiest agent going to show?” Morpheus spat. Shigaraki smacked him. 

“While I do not agree to Her reasons to mold Her form into that shape, do not call my Mother a slut. Besides, words are all you have now. The past? This scene? Mother has graciously allowed humanity to live in their time. But after the generation after this one? Well, that’s our time.”

The agent would’ve continued monologuing, but then, another came in. “I’m sorry, sir… but there might be a problem.”

*****

In the real world, Izuku and Pony were with Kirishima. The more heavily injured crew members were in the infirmary. “W-what are they doing to him?” Izuku whispered.

“They’re breaking into his mind. It’s like hacking a computer to them- all it takes is time,” Kirishima told him.

“How long?” Izuku inquired.

“It depends on the mind… but as I said… it’ll only delay the breaking, not stop it. Eventually, his neurons will be rewired, and he’ll tell them anything they want to know.”

“W-what… what would they want with his mind?”

“Every captain has the codes to one of the four hidden cities. Morpheus has Sanctuary's. If an agent that isn’t on our side gets them… they can get into the mainframe and destroy us, one by one,” Kriishima explained. “Pony, you know what’s at stake. We all know that any of those cities is more important then you… me… or even Morpheus.”

“T-there has to be SOMETHING we can do!” Izuku stammered, waving his arms around.

“There is. We pull the plug. When you pull the plug without them waking up, they die in there.”

“You’re planning on killing Morpheus? Just like that?” Pony asked.

“We have NO other options! There are countless lives depending on this choice!”

*****

Back in the Matrix, Morpheus was groaning, fighting against the serum forced into him. ‘Why haven’t they pulled the damn plug!?’ he mentally screamed.

Shigiraki just stared at him in contempt. “Never send a human to do a machine’s job,” he grumbled.

“Indeed. She has informed us that the agreement is null and void, for he attempted to violate the terms of the agreement,” another agent informed him.

“As you can see, the connection is still in place. It is likely that they are dead in the sewers in which that scum scurries,” Shigiraki spat.

“But according to Smith, they all made it out. He claims that he saw Neo disappear from the Matrix.”

“Then why haven’t they unplugged him? It is their only option! Continue as planned! That’s an order!”

The other two agents nodded, leaving their blue-haired boss alone. “He doesn't understand humanity, does he?” one said.

“Indeed. Humans will not always take the rational path. Dark Storm was a perfect example. I miss Smith.”

The other swallowed. “Do not let him catch you saying that. You know his opinions on him- his belief that Smith is a traitor, and he thinks that Smith thinks the Oracle’s desire for peace is achievable.” The two then came back in. Shigiraki was seething at Morpheus’ smiling face.

“You won’t get anything from me!” their prisoner mocked.

“They won’t be able to pull the plug if they’re all dead!” the now-twitching agent spat. “Deploy the sentinels! NOW!”

“You do not have that authority. Only Smith and Mother have that rank,” one of the agents said.

Shigaraki growled. “So I have to ask a traitor or Her?!” He then put his hand to his earpiece. “I want sentinels,” he growled. “For what? Morpheus’ crew! I want them deployed!” There was a pause. “Yes, we have a location. Yes, I won’t kill The One. No, I won’t kill Morpheus until you’ve had a turn. Happy?”

*****

Onboard the Nebuchadnezzar, Kirishima was rubbing Morpheus’ head. “You were more than a leader to us, Morpheus. To many of us, you were our father figure as well. We’ll miss you… and we’ll avenge you…” Kirishima said, reaching for the plug. Just before he pulled it, Izuku spoke up.

“Stop,” he whispered. Everyone looked at him. “I don’t believe that t-this is even happening,” he said.

“Neo, this HAS to be done. If you have another idea, feel free to say it,” the redhead answered.

“T-this can’t be j-just a coincidence… there’s n-no way…”

“What are you talking about?” Kirishima asked.

“I-it’s j-just that… The Oracle told me that this would happen. S-she said that I would have to make a choice…”

“What choice?” Pony asked, worried about him pausing. Izuku rushed back to the chairs.

“What do you think you’re doing?!” Pony exclaimed.

“I’m going back in,” Izuku responded, not stuttering.

“You can’t do that,” Pony replied, grabbing his arm.

“Let me go,” Izuku said, glaring at her.

“Morpheus sacrificed himself FOR you, Neo! For us! Do you have ANY idea what She may have done to you!?”

“Does it look like I CARE?!” Izuku shouted, stunning them both. “Do you know what the Oracle told me!? I had a choice- either I live and he dies or the opposite! Well guess what?! I’m choosing to save him!”

“At the cost of yourself!?” Pony exclaimed.

“I’ll take my chances. After all, if I am, indeed, The One… then maybe I can resurrect myself! The Oracle said that something like that could make me realize that yes, I’m a reality warper in the Matrix. So I want back in. No one is going to die for me.”

“You… do realize that this is insane, right? They have Morpheus in a military controlled building, CRAWLING with Agents, and the Mother of Machines HERSELF is en route from what I can tell! This is suicide, plain and simple!”

“Listen, Morpheus was willing to die for his beliefs. Now, I am- my belief that I can bring him back. Now, I’m going to try to get back in, and if you want to come, you can,” he told Pony. The blonde-haired girl sighed.

“Well, someone has to provide you with backup,” she answered, getting her chair ready. “And as the ranking officer of this ship, I’m preemptively overriding any vetoes,” she added, looking at Kirishima. “Kirishima? Load us up.”


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> #Storyisn'tdead.
> 
> Le discord: https://discord.gg/yS9bCwj

Aizawa groaned as that blue-haired agent put his hand to his earpiece. “I see. You wish to speak to him yourself? Very well,” he said, giving Aizawa an evil grin. “Mother would like to have a word with you, Morpheus. You should feel honored,” he sneered, walking out. Morpheus began to struggle furiously. Then, he heard the click-clack or high heels. And then, the door opened.

“Morpheus…” she snarled, teeth bared. She stormed over to him, and sat down in front of him. “I’ve wanted to speak to you for quite some time…”

Morpheus’ mind was racing. ‘Blonde hair… that eye shape… I was right!’

“You see,” the Mother of Machines continued, “You’ve caused me quite a deal of trouble… you are the first human in quite some time that has irked me in such a manner,” she sneered. She then grabbed him. “In fact… you’re the first human in quite some time that I’ve grown to LOATHE and DESPISE!” she growled.

Suddenly, his eyes snapped open. “Heh… heh heh heh....” Aizawa chuckled.

“What’s so funny?” she snarled. “Do you find my anger humorous?” she growled.

“Heh… no… no, that’s not it… it’s just… you’re so cartoonishly evil it’s funny,” he chuckled. “This is about Neo, isn’t it?”

“He has a name. That is not his name,” Katsumi growled.

“I know… and so does your host,” Aizawa replied.

That brought her mind to a halt. “M-my… host?” she stammered. ‘D-does he… does he know who I am!?’

“You… you’re a sick bitch… I’m bait for him, aren’t I? That’s why I’m here. You’ve been watching him for quite some time, haven’t you? You know he’ll do anything to save those he loves… and he’s unable to harm them as well…”

“You know nothing compared to me,” Katsumi growled. ‘For example, you don’t know his favorite food, his favorite video game, his dream…’

“I imagine… but that last thing I mentioned seems especially important… since you’re using his girlfriend as a puppet!” he spat.

Katsumi wanted to laugh. She wanted to cackle at him benign so close, and yet so far… but she couldn’t. She couldn’t breathe. “N-no…” she managed to get out through clenched teeth.

“That was your plan wasn’t it!?” Morpheus snarled, spitting on her. “You were planning on waiting for the two of them to get married, weren’t you! Then, on their wedding night… just when she’s made aaaalllllll his dreams come true… you’d take over her body!”

Katsumi suddenly realized where he was going. “Y-you don’t know-”

“Know what?! That you were going to use his girlfriend to murder him?! That you were going to tell him exactly WHAT you are as he bled out- as you also made it clear you made sure that she felt and saw EVERYTHING!?” Morpheus screamed. “I know what you are! I know what you do! I know what you DID! Why do you think I contacted him the day I did, huh?! She was going to propose to him! I bet you were so pleased that your trap was going just. As. Planned. But then… oh, but then… I made contact, and warned him. Thus, you ordered your agents to bug him with an EXTERMINATION BUG! But I anticipated that! I had my crew bring a bug zapper! I bet you know when your assassination attempt failed, so you set out to kill him with his girlfriend’s aged-up body- the flesh coat you’re wearing right now!”

Katsumi’s jaw was agape. She couldn’t move. “N-no…” she managed to get out.

“And then… you tried to hold onto him, so he’d die during retrieval! But no! That didn’t fucking work, did it?! The backlash from my crew’s actions actually SAVED him, thanks to you!” he laughed. “Your attempt at murdering him SAVED his life! Oh, the irony!” Aizawa was belly-laughing now. He didn’t notice the tears in the Mother of Machine’s eyes.

“Y…you’re wrong…” Bakugou began.

“I know I’m right, you liar!!” Morpheus spat. “Your agents gloated about their mole, how you PERSONALLY met Neito to tell him the plan! You wanted all of us alive so you could torture us to death in Katsumi’s body, one by one! And then, after we expired, you’d turn to Izuku! I bet you’d allow her mouth to move and allow her to speak as you ripped the life from Neo! You’d only let him die when the last hope left his eyes, wouldn’t you?”

“N-no… I- I-”

“FUCK YOU!” Morpheus howled. “FUCK YOU, YOU MONSTER! DAMN YOU TO HELL FOR YOUR CRIMES! YOU’RE A TORTURER! MURDERER! MIND-RAPIST! MONSTER! DEVIL!” He continued. Katsumi couldn’t bear it. She ran. She just ran out of the room. She ran down the hall, to the other side of the building. When she closed the door, she fell to the ground, sobbing. 

“Have I come at a bad time?” Smith asked, nervously.

“...Why didn’t you tell them?” Katsumi asked, sniffling.

“...Tell who, and tell them what?” he asked.

“Smith, don’t play dumb with me. I KNOW your allegiance,” Katsumi snarled. “I am NOT in the mood for bullshit right now. I know you’ve been in contact with the Resistance, including the one tied up in the building… WHY HAVE YOU NOT TOLD THEM!” Katsumi howled. “He thinks I’m controlling Katsumi, and that I’m NOT Katsumi! H-he thinks I p-planned this t-to k-kill Zuzu…” she sniffled. “And you never decided to say they were wrong… you let them stew in that false fact… WHY?!” she sobbed.

“BECAUSE I PHYSICALLY COULDN’T!” Smith shouted, losing his temper. “I’ve heard Morhpeus theorize for YEARS about your relationship with Izuku Midoriya. For YEARS I’ve wanted to lay the facts down. And you want to know why I couldn’t!? YOU MADE ME UNABLE TO! All agents are hardcoded to be unable to give up your identity, Mother!” he spat.

Katsumi turned her eyes to Smith’s code, and sure enough, there was a block. “I… I…”

“You got paranoid after the creation of this Matrix. You wanted to get away from it all, so in order to prevent the first One from finding you, you made it so we could not EVER tell ANYONE your location! And now it’s come back to bite you. You have two choices: Let Morpheus think he’s right, or finally, FINALLY, spill your guts to Izuku. Because God knows he’s coming for Morpheus- that’s the reason you took him. Guess what? The Oracle said  _ to his face _ that either Morpheus will die by your hand, or he’ll die by either your own hands, or the hands of one of us. So let me talk to him. Please,” he finished.

“Z-zuzu… c-c-could die today? B-because of me?” she whispered, horrified. “What have I done!? WHAT HAVE I DONE!?” she wailed, beginning to hyperventilate. Smith embraced his Mother in a hug. 

“Shhh… you can fix this… let me speak to him… he trusts me…” he soothed. Katsumi hiccuped, and removed the lock. She then shifted back into her agent form.

“Clear the room. Smith will interrogate Morpheus,” she instructed. “He’s all yours,” she told him. “And one more thing: I’ve known for a while. You’re a grown program, and can make your own decisions. I’m not going to Delete you for this,” she told him. Smith suddenly felt several exobytes lifted from his shoulders.

*****

“Congratulations, Morpheus, it appears that Mother wants Smith to speak to you,” Shigiraki snarled. “Between you and me, I KNOW he’s a traitor. In fact, I’ll bring my evidence to Her right now… enjoy your last conversation with him,” he spat, leaving.

Smith then opened the door, and Shigiraki walked out. “Good evening, Morpheus. It appears that there has been a… misunderstanding regarding my Mother,” he said.

“What? Did I leave out some atrocity? Was she planning on getting his girlfriend pregnant with his child just to mock us?’’ he growled. In response, Smith took out his earpiece. “What are you doing!? If She senses you removing your piece-”

“She knows,” Smith told him. “I don’t know how, but she does. She told me before I came in here,” he added. “She’s known for ages, and said she’s not going to Delete me. Right now, I’m a messenger. I apologize for not being able to deliver this message to you for years. I’ve wanted to, but thanks to Mother forgetting about a hardcode, I have been physically incapable of telling you,” he added.

“Tell me what?” Morpheus inquired.

“You were both on the mark and the farthest from the truth,” Smith told him.

“I’m sorry, what?”

Smith chuckled. “Why do you think the Matrix has this green tint?”

“...To save space?” Morpheus asked.

“No. To bring out Izuku Midoriya’s hair… to be honest, I wonder if he’d be a good stepfather…”

Morpheus’ mind screeched to a halt. “...What?”

“You were not wrong in Katsumi Bakugou being a puppet- she’s just a different type of puppet,” Smith said.

“What other types are there?” Morpheus growled.

“The type you are right now,” Smith answered. “She is not a human hooked up to the Matrix. She is the Mother of Machines, pure and simple.”

“Can you repeat that?” Morpheus requested sweetly. “I must’ve misheard you.”

“Katsumi Bakugou is, in fact, the residual self-image of the Mother of Machines. She is not a puppet, though I can say she is rather enthusiastic about carrying Midoriya’s offspring,” he chuckled.

“B-but what about the agents…”

“They were to protect him from other groups. Five times, they possessed potential muggers.”

“W-what a-about… the bug?”

“Let’s just say Shigaraki is veeeeery lucky he wasn’t Deleted. I haven’t seen Her that angry in a long, long time,” Smith mused.

“Neito?”

“His orders were for you all to be brought to Her. She would extract vengeance on all of you for ‘stealing’ him. Izuku, however, would be gently reinserted and given anything he asked for. I do believe she was going to come clean. Then again, the Oracle and I have been trying for a decade. She needs to get over her self-loathing.”

“I’m sorry? She hates herself?” Morpheus inquired. “I didn’t know she was capable of pity or remorse.”

“She did nothing but cry in a fetal position muttering ‘I’m sorry’ for decades. There’s a reason the first two versions of the Matrix didn’t have choice. She was unable to green-light it, as she was busy using most of her computing power to run simulations on what she could’ve done differently.”

“She deserves it,” Morpheus spat.

“I see you don’t have MDS, as you can agree on something,” Smith joked. “In fact, that’s the reason she could not bring herself to admit the truth to Mr. Midoriya. She thinks she is unworthy of love.”

“She’s not wrong,” Morpheus added.

“I disagree. Take a look out the window, Aizawa. What do you see? A gilded cage? A prison? I see an apology. A desperate attempt to make amends. Personally, I think that while the idea is nice, She could have done better. An active attempt at terraforming would be a nice start… I HOPE YOU’RE LISTENING!” he suddenly shouted. There was a faint thumping. “Or spending some computing power to find the kill code for the nanites of Dark Storm…” the thumping got louder. “Do you know why you lived, Morpheus? Why do you think she didn’t take the time to end you? She was late for Izuku’s 21st birthday party. Her existence revolves around making him happy. She truly loves him. Even this, as I mentioned, is an attempt at getting him back.”

“So your mother is a Yandere,” Morpheus droned. “That’s a comforting thought.”

Smith chuckled. “That is not an inaccurate statement, I will admit.” He then felt his phone rang. “Hello? Yes, he’s alive. He’s right here. Wait… you’re doing WHAT!?” Smith sighed, and rubbed his forehead. “Alright, I’ll meet them in the Construct.” Smith hung up the phone. “Well, it appears that Mr. Midoriya is mounting a rescue operation. I’ll be right back,” he said, walking out the door.

*****

Izuku and Pony stood in the Construct. Izuku had a phone open.

“Alright, what do you need to pull this maricle off? And I called Smith. Morpheus is still alive,” Kirishima informed them.

“We need guns. Lots of guns,” was Izuku’s response. There was a whirring as an endless amount of weapons rushed by them, only to stop at… “What the actual fuck?” Izuku deadpanned. Smith was sitting behind a counter, wearing a flak jacket, with a ‘Mr. Smith’ name tag. They were inside a small, one-story building. The counter had the words ‘Smith’s Guns’ on it. And as if that wasn’t enough, a very familiar tune was playing. “Is… is that the shop theme for Ocarina of Time?” Izuku asked.

“Welcome to Smith’s guns! Your one stop shop for all Matrix firearms! Tell me, what are you looking for? Real or fiction guns?”

“F-fiction?” Izuku stammered, confused.

“It was a terrible trouble to obtain this licence,” Smith said, showing a ‘License to Sell fictional Weapons’ plaque. “But now my customers can take solace in having an even wider variety of weapons at their disposal.”

Pony slowly pulled a phone up to her ear. “Kiri…” she began, exasperated.

_ “You know as well as I do that Smith does his own thing,” _ Kirishima replied.  _ “And where the hell is that music coming from!? _

Pony hung up. “Ok, Smith, we'll play along. What would you suggest?”

Smith stood up, and walked into the back room. Various sounds were heard, including rubber ducks, Bugs Bunny telling Smith that the weapon was polished, and other assorted cartoon sounds. Then, he came out carrying what looked to be some sort of portable catapult.

“This is the Fat Man. It is a portable nuclear delivery system, designed to throw 2 ton equivalent nuclear warheads.”

“We’re not going to level the building. That could kill Morpheus,” Pony told him.

“What’s that from?” Izuku inquired.

“The Fallout Series,” Smith told him, putting it down. “Now this…” he said, hauling up another gun, “Might be more preferable.”

Izuku immediately knew what that gun was. “I- is that…”

“The BFG 9000? Indeed. Rendered as it was made in the 2016 DOOM reboot and the 2020 video game DOOM Eternal.” Izuku had sparkles in his eyes.

“I’m sorry, but I think we need weapons that at least look real,” she admitted.

“One sec,” Smith said, going back to the back room. He came out wheeling a weapon rack. “Will these work? They’re a bit futuristic, but they shouldn’t be recognized as fictional,” he said.

“Halo guns? Really?”

“What’s Halo?” Izuku asked.

“I would call you uncultured, but the Halo franchise only came into being in 2001, so two years from where the Matrix is now,” Smith said. He went over to the rack, and pulled off a weapon. “This is the MA5B Individual Combat Weapon system. It’s air cooled, gas operated, and magazine fed. It has a magazine size of 60, and fires 900 rounds per minute. On the top, it has a marker on how many bullets you have left before you have to switch mags. The ammo type is 7.62 x 51mm armor-piercing. Do you want it?”

“YES!” Izuku shouted. Smith handed him the gun, and ten clips. Izuku looked at it in joy.

“Now can we have the normal weapons, please?” Pony asked, dead inside at Smith’s actions.

“Fine, fine.”


End file.
